
I 




/ 


NATURALIZATION 
MADE EASY 


WHAT TO DO and 
WHAT TO KNOW 


A Book of Instruction 


FOR- 


Aliens Wishing to Become Citizens 


— OF THE — 


United States 




By R. K.^O’NEIL and G^IC.^ESTES 


ATTORNEY8-AT-LA-W 
San Jose, California 


KOURTH editioin: 
1913 


PUBLISHED BY 

A. CARLISLE & CO. 
San Francisco 









o 



Copyright, 1913 

By R. K. O’Neil and G. K. Estes 
All Rights Reserved 


©CI,A34 3 23 8 

Pi I 


FOREWORD. 


This little book has now reached its fourth edi¬ 
tion. The first of its class in the field since the 
passage of the Act of 1906, it has held its place 
in the front rank, and has aided thousands of 
aliens in their efforts to become citizens, and 
lightened the labors of naturalization courts and 
examining attorneys all over the land. In its 
original preparation and in its revisions, it has 
been the constant aim and endeavor of its 
authors to place before prospective citizens 
every possible assistance which they could give, 
and all of the practical information on the sub¬ 
ject treated of which they have been able to 
gather from a careful study of the Act itself, 
the decisions of the Federal courts, the statutes 
of the United States, and the rulings of the 
naturalization department, and long practical 
experience in citizenship matters with applicants 
and examiners both in and out of court. The 
main object of the book is helpfulness, and wher¬ 
ever deemed necessary, elegance and brevity of 
expression have been sacrificed in order that the 
essential points might be gotten clearly and 
plainly before the applicant. The book is again 
launched in the faith that it will continue to 
meet with the wants and the approval of the 
large class of people for whom it is intended. 

San Jose, California. 

February 1, 1918. 


PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 

In the preparation of this volume, the authors 
have been actuated by the belief that there is a 
call for such a work, owing to the radical 
changes which have recently been made in the 
Naturalization laws, calling for a more or less 
extensive knowledge on the part of applicants 
for naturalization of our institutions and laws, 
and the seemingly entire absence of any book to 
which the applicant can look for the necessary 
information. Books on the history of the 
United States, and on civil government, are not 
usually written with such a class of readers or 
students in mind, and are usually exhaustive 
treatises upon their subjects, and serve to be¬ 
wilder rather than to instruct the alien bent 
upon acquiring the primary facts about these 
subjects. 

This work is intended especially for the 
guidance and instruction of aliens who wish to 
change their allegiance and become citizens of 
the United States, and in the following pages 
the authors have endeavored to set forth in a 
concise manner, and in a comparatively small 
compass, all that a person coming from a for¬ 
eign country, and residing in this country for a 
few years only, can reasonably be expected to 
know about our country and its laws, and they 
trust that not only will the primary object of 
the work of assisting worthy aliens to become 


4 


citizens of our country be accomplished, but 
that through its study they may be led into a 
deeper and more thorough investigation of the 
history of our country, and acquire a better 
appreciation of our institutions and a greater 
respect for our laws. 

San Jose, California, February 1, 1908. 


6 




Chapter 


CONTENTS. 



Foreword ...... 

3 


Preface to First Edition 

4 

I. 

Instructions to Applicants . . . . 

9 

II. 

Facts about United States History . 

24 

III. 

Facts about the Government of the 

United States . . . . . 

30 

IV. 

Extracts from the Naturalization Law 

42 


Decisions and Rulings on the Naturalization 
Law ...... 

76 

V. 

Reasons for Becoming an American 

Citizen ...... 

84 

VI. 

List of Questions ..... 

89 


Declaration of Independence 

97 


Constitution of the United States 

102 


List of Presidents of the United States 

121 


List of States and Territories . 

123 


Index ...... 

125 











Naturalization Made Easy. 

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO KNOW. 


CHAPTER I. 

Instructions to Applicants for Citizenship. 

FIRST PAPER. 

If you wish to become a citizen of the United 
States, and yon now belong to a nationality or 
race entitled to citizenship in this country, and 
have not taken out your first paper, called 
Declaration of Intention, you must go before 
the clerk of the Superior Court, or other court 
having jurisdiction, where you reside, and tell 
him that you wish to take out your first paper. 
He will then fill out for you a blank form, ac¬ 
cording to the answers which you will give to 
questions which he will ask you, and when it is 
completed you will have to sign your name to 
the paper and two copies of it, and swear to it, 
if the contents of the paper are correct. He 
will then give you a copy of the paper, charging 
you one dollar, and will send the other copy to 
the Department at Washington. This paper is 
j^our Declaration of Intention, and in it you 
declare your intention to become a citizen of 
the United States, and to renounce forever all 
allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, 
potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particular¬ 
ly by name to the prince, potentate, state or 



sovereignty of which you happen to be at the 
time a citizen or subject; and you also set forth 
your name, age, occupation, personal descrip, 
tion, that is, your color, whether white or other¬ 
wise, the color of your eyes and hair, your com¬ 
plexion and your height, and any visible dis¬ 
tinguishing marks, the place of your birth, your 
last foreign residence and allegiance, the date 
of your arrival in the United States, and the 
name of the vessel, if any, in which you came, 
and your present place of residence. It is par¬ 
ticularly important that you know the name of 
the vessel, if any, in which you came and the 
date of its arrival. For form of Declaration 
see page 56. 

In order that you may take out these citizen¬ 
ship papers, you must belong to the white race, 
or be of African nativity or of African descent; 
as no aliens of other races are permitted to be¬ 
come citizens of the United States, and you must 
be eighteen years of age or over. You may take 
out this first paper immediately upon j^our ar¬ 
rival in the United States, and you are not 
required to sign it in your own handwriting, if 
you are not able to do so. 

Not less than two years nor more than seven 
years after taking out this first paper, provided 
you have reached the age of 21 years, you may 
take out your second, or final paper, called 
Certificate of Naturalization, entitling you to 
all the rights of a citizen of this country. In 
order to do this, you must have been five years 
in the United States, continuously, and at least 
one year immediately preceding the date of the 


10 



filing of your petition in the State, Territory or 
district in which your application is made, and 
have taken out your first paper at least two 
years before. If your first paper was taken out 
on or after June 29, 1906, you must make and 
file your application for your final paper within 
seven years after the date of your first paper, or 
you will have to begin over and take out your 
first paper again. If your first paper was taken 
out before June 29, 1906, you should make your 
application for your final paper before June 
29, 1913, as the Government seems inclined to 
construe the second paragraph of Section 4 of 
the present law to mean that those who took out 
their first papers before June 29, 1906, must 
make their final application within seven years 
after that date. 

Under Section 4 of the Naturalization Act, 
as amended June 25, 1910, certain persons are 
permitted to become naturalized without proof 
of former declaration of intention on their part 
to become a citizen of the United States. (See 
page 44.) 

SECOND PAPER. 

When you wish to get your final paper, you 
must apply to the clerk of the court, as be¬ 
fore—it need not be in the same city or the 
same State, so long as it is in the United States, 
and you can produce your witnesses—and make 
your Petition for Naturalization, bringing with 
you your first paper and at least two witnesses 
who are citizens of the United States and who 
have known you for at least one year in the 


State or Territory where you make application, i 
and as much longer in the United States as j 
possible; it will be necessary by these witnesses, ^ 
or by these witnesses and the depositions of 
other witnesses taken in the manner hereinafter 
indicated, to prove your residence in the United \ 
States for a period of at least five years con- '' 
tinuously, and of the State, Territory or district 
in which you make your petition for a period of 
at least one year immediately preceding the 
date of the filing of your petition, and that they 
each have personal knowledge that you are a 
person of good moral character and qualified 
in their opinion to be admitted a citizen of the 
United States. 

It is not necessary, however, that you should 
prove your residence in the United States for 
the entire period of five years by any two cer¬ 
tain witnesses. So long as there are at least two 
credible witnesses testifying as to each fraction 
of the period, so as to cover the whole, the statu¬ 
tory requirement is satisfied. 

It is important in selecting your witnesses 
that you choose persons who are permanent 
residents of your locality, and who are thus 
likely to be on hand when you need them at 
the hearing of your petition as hereinafter 
indicated, as you will be required to produce 
these same witnesses at the hearing or give 
some good reason why you have not done so, 
and if you should have to produce new wit¬ 
nesses it may cause delay. The law provides 
that in case your original witnesses “cannot be 
produced” upon the hearing other witnesses 


12 


may be summoned, but it is not intended by this 
provision that witnesses may be changed for 
light or trivial cause, but only where the original 
witnesses cannot be produced by the ordinary 
process of subpoena, as in case of death, or sick¬ 
ness, or removal from the County. The burden 
is upon you to satisfy the court that your orig¬ 
inal witnesses, or either of them, cannot be pro¬ 
duced, and, if any suspicion arises, the court 
may postpone the hearing, and give the Govern¬ 
ment time in which to investigate the matter. 
It was formerly held that substitute witnesses 
should be permitted only after the names of 
such witnesses had been posted for ninety days 
in the same manner as the names of original wit¬ 
nesses, but these decisions have been overruled 
by later ones and the present rulings seem to be 
as above stated. 

It is also important that you should choose 
witnesses who are qualified, as if either of your 
original witnesses should prove at the hearing 
not to be a citizen, or not to have known you 
for the full time stated in his affidavit to your 
petition continuously, your petition will be dis¬ 
missed. 

The clerk wdll first collect from you the 
customary fee of four dollars, and will then 
take and file your first paper, and will ask you 
a number of questions, and will put your an¬ 
swers upon the blank form which he will fur¬ 
nish, and when this is completed you will sign 
your name to the paper and one copy, and 
swear to the contents of the paper before the 
clerk; and your two witnesses must swear that 


13 



they have known you for a certain length of 
time in the United States and for at least one 
year in the State, Territory or district, and that < 
you have a good character and will make a 
good citizen, as above indicated. 

If you have arrived in the United States on 
or after June 29, 1906, it will be necessary 
for you to file with the clerk, in addition to 
your first paper, a certificate from the Depart¬ 
ment of Commerce and Labor. See page 47. 
This certificate is not being furnished to immi¬ 
grants as they land, but will be furnished to 
such as subsequently seek naturalization upon 
application therefor. You should send for this 
certificate at least a month before making your 
application to the clerk in order that the De¬ 
partment at Washington may have time to send 
it. You can probably obtain a form for this 
application and full instructions in regard to it 
from the clerk of the court where you intend 
to file your petition. 

The clerk will then instruct you to come 
back into court with your two witnesses and be 
examined by the Judge on a day which he will 
then set, and which must be at least ninety days 
from the day when you make and file your 
petition, but must not be within thirty days 
preceding the holding of any general election 
within the territorial jurisdiction of the court. 

Should you wish to subpoena your witnesses 
in order to be sure of having them in court at 
the proper time, the clerk will issue a subpoena 
for this purpose upon receiving from you a sum 
of money sufficient to cover the expenses of 


14 


^pbpoenaing and paying the legal fees of the 
ivitnesses; but usually it will not be necessary 
(to have your witnesses subpoenaed. If it is 
^^oing to be necessary for you to have deposi- 
jtions taken to supplement the testimony of your 
resident witnesses, this should be attended to 
at once, and the Department at Washington 
notified immediately of the fact, so that you 
will have the depositions ready to produce at 
the hearing. Blank forms for the taking of 
I these depositions are furnished by the Govern¬ 
ment and can be procured from the clerk at 
the time of filing your petition. 

Upon the day thus appointed for the hearing 
of your petition, you must come into court and 
bring your witnesses with you. You will take 
the witness stand and be sworn, and the Judge 
or the United States Attorney will ask you a 
number of questions to see whether you know 
enough about the country and its institutions, 
etc., and whether you are a good enough per¬ 
son, and have been long enough in the country, 
to become a citizen. He will also examine your 
witnesses about you, as to what kind of a per¬ 
son you are, and how long they have known 
you, and how long you have been in the United 
States, and he will also examine any depositions 
which you may produce, and if the Judge is 
satisfied that you have been long enough in this 
country and that your character is good, and 
that you know enough about the country, etc., 
he will admit you as a citizen; otherwise he will 
deny your application. 

Before admitting you to citizenship, the 


16 


Judge will require you to declare on oath ii 
open court that you will support the Constitu' 
tion of the United States, and that you abso¬ 
lutely and entirely renounce and adjure all 
allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, 
potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particu^ 
larly by name to the prince, potentate, state or\ 
sovereignty of which you have been a citizen! 
or subject, and that you will support and de- I 
fend the Constitution and laws of the United I 
States against all enemies, foreign and domes- « 
tic, and bear true faith and allegiance to the \ 
same. i 

He will then sign the order admitting you as f\ 
a citizen, and the clerk will make out your I 
Certificate of Naturalization and hand it to you ( 
and will send a duplicate of it to the Depart- { 
ment at Washington. 

When you receive this certificate, you will 
then be an American citizen, and be entitled to 
all the rights and privileges of a citizen. 

If your petition should be denied by the 
Judge, the clerk will return to you your first ' 
paper upon application therefor, and you may 
make another petition some other time, when 
the grounds upon which your petition was de¬ 
nied have been removed. 

In making your petition for naturalization 
you must sign it in your own handwriting, un- 
l^ess you have filed your declaration of intention 
before the new law of June 29,1906, was passed, 
and must state your full name, your place of 
residence (by street and number, if possible) 
your occupation, and, if possible, the date and 


16 


|lace of your birth, the place from which you 
migrated and the date and place of your ar- 
ival in the United States, and if you entered 
jhrough a port, the name of the vessel in which 
f^ou arrived; the time when and the place and 
jiame of the court where you declared your 
/intention to become a citizen of the United 
States. If you are married you must give the 
name of your wife, and, if possible, the country 
of her nativity, and her place of residence at 
'the time of tiling the petition; and if you have 
children, the name, date and place of birth and 
place of residence of each child living at the 
time of filing the petition. 

Your petition must also set forth that you 
are not a disbeliever in or opposed to organized 
government, or a member of or affiliated with 
any organization or body of persons teaching 
disbelief in or opposed to organized govern¬ 
ment, a polygamist or believer in the practice 
of polygamy, and that it is your intention to 
become a citizen of the United States, and to 
renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance 
or fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state 
or sovereignty, and particularly by name to the 
prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of which 
at the time of filing the petition you may be a 
citizen or subject; and that it is your intention 
to reside permanently within the United States; 
and whether or not you have been denied ad¬ 
mission as a citizen of the United States, and, 
if denied, the ground or grounds of such denial, 
the court or courts in which such decision was 
rendered, and that the cause for such denial 


17 



has since been cured or removed; together . itm 
every other fact material to your naturalizay. 
tion and required to be proved upon the finaf 
hearing of your petition. See form on page 57jj 

Under Section 8 of the Act, it will be neces-^^, 
sary for you to be able to speak the EnglishU 
language, unless you can bring yourself within ' 
one of the exceptions mentioned in that Section. 
(See page 50.) 

Women who are not married may become 
naturalized as well as men, and the same pro¬ 
cedure is to be followed by them, the blank 
forms in use for men being adapted to their 
purpose, except as indicated in this book. The 
status of a married woman is the same as that 
of her husband; except, possibly, in the case of a 
native born American woman, who has, prior to 
the taking effect of the Act of March 2, 1907, 
married a foreigner, but who has not removed 
from the United States, nor taken any other 
affirmative action indicating an intention to re¬ 
nounce or abandon her American citizenship,— 
as to which there is still some question. But 
there is no such question where an American 
woman has married a foreigner since March 2, 
1907. 

If the alien Imsband of an alien wife becomes 
naturalized, she, also, by virtue of such naturali¬ 
zation, is deemed to be a citizen; and if a woman, 
being an alien, marries an American citizen, she 
is also deemed to be a citizen; provided, in all 
cases, however, that she might herself be law¬ 
fully naturalized, Avere she not so married. The 


18 


\ 

lien wife of an alien husband cannot become a 

laturalized citizen of the United States. 

i 

THE HEARING. 

In your petition you have stated that you are 
attached to the principles of the Constitution 
of the United States, and upon the hearing by 
the court you will probably be required to 
intelligently state what the Constitution is, and 
v/hat its principal provisions are, and why you 
are attached to it, and to show that you know 
at least the main features of our form of gov¬ 
ernment, and the difference between it and the 
form of government of the country allegiance 
to which you are about to renounce. 

It is of the greatest importance that you study 
the Constitution, and study it carefully, as you 
will surely be asked about this, and imless you 
can show that you have faithfully tried to be¬ 
come familiar with its provisions and that you 
know something about it, your petition will 
very likely be denied or at least your admission 
to citizenship delayed. 

You will probably also be asked to explain 
clearly what you meant when you stated in 
your petition that it was your intention to be¬ 
come a citizen of the United States and to re¬ 
nounce absolutely and forever your allegiance 
and fidelity to any foreign prince, etc., and to 
state definitely some of your reasons for pre¬ 
ferring this country to the country in which 
you were born. 


19 


You will also probably be required to shoA 
that you understand clearly what is meant b, 
the statement that you are not a disbeliever ii 
or opposed to organized government, or a mem 
ber of or affiliated with any organization oi 
body of persons teaching disbelief in organized 
government; which simply means, of course, 
that you are not an anarchist nor a believer in 
anarchy, nor a member of or affiliated Avith any ^ 
anarchistic organization. By organized gov-^ 
ernment is meant a government organized Avith 
regular laws and regular officers to enforce and 
execute the laAvs. An anarchist is a person who 
disbelieves in organized government of any kind 
and who usually manifests his disbelief by 
advocating or teaching the duty, necessity or 
propriety of assaulting or killing government 
officials, or carrying such teachings into effect. 

And the same in regard to polygamy. You 
AAull probably be asked what it is, and whether 
you believe in it or not. You must understand 
beforehand that polygamy, which is defined as, 
marriage with more than one spouse, the hav¬ 
ing of a plurality of wives or husbands at the 
same time, is considered one of the very Avorst 
offences against the United States government 
and against society in this country. 

It is important that you show at the hearing 
a proper regard and respect for American in¬ 
stitutions and American officials by proper be¬ 
havior Avhile in court, due respect and courtesy 
shoAvn to the Judge and examining officer, and 
by refraining from referring to prominent gov¬ 
ernment officials, such as the president and con- 


20 


jgressmen, by their last names solely, instead 
jof giving their full name or prefixing their title. 
[The last error is quite common, and is invari- 
jably frowned upon by the Judge and examin- 
jing attorney. 

There does not seem to be any regular set 
list of questions asked at these hearings, the 
aim being to ascertain just what your standard 
of intelligence is, and just what you know about 
this country, its institutions, and its laws, and 
the examination may take a wide or narrow 
scope, depending very much upon the examin¬ 
ing officer. 

If you will read carefully the following ar¬ 
ticles about the History of the United States 
and about the Government and Constitution of 
the United States, and study the Constitution 
itself, which you will find printed in full in the 
back of this book, and then take up the ques¬ 
tions at the end of this book and refer for their 
answers to those articles, and will also look up 
the few other questions concerning your own 
State or Territory, the answers to which you 
can readily ascertain by inquiry from those 
around you, you cannot fail to pass a creditable 
examination upon the hearing, and you will 
acquire a knowledge of facts about this country 
in Avhich you are going to live and make your 
home that will be useful to you in many re¬ 
spects. 

One other thing.—You will doubtless be 
asked the questions: “Why do you wish to 
become an American citizen?” and “What dif¬ 
ference is there between this country and your 


21 



native country?” No doubt you will be able 
to give some answer to these questions, but in 
order to assist you somewhat, we have added a 
short article entitled, “Some reasons why you 
should wish to become an American citizen,” 
which it will also be well to read. 

You may be asked whether you have saved \ 
any money since you have been in this country, 
and, if so, whether you have saved as much as 
one hundred dollars. It is very evident that if 
you have been sober and industrious during the 
past five years, and have not had very bad luck, 
and particularly if you are not married, you 
should have been able to save something. 

You will also be asked the question, whether, 
in case you are admitted as a citizen of the 
United States, and the United States should 
get into a war with the country where you were 
born, and which you have left, you will fight 
for the United States against the other country 
if required to do so. This is a hard question, 
of course, and may cause you to hesitate, but 
you must be ready to answer this question in 
the affirmative and say that you will fight for 
the United States in such a case when required, 
because if you are not ready to do this, you 
have not in fact renounced your allegiance and 
fidelity to your native country and transferred 
them to this country, and you cannot become 
an American citizen. When you swear your 
allegiance and fidelity to the United States or 
any other country, you must be ready to fight 
for it if necessary, for the oath, in effect, is 
that you will bear faith to the government in 


22 



opposition to all men, without any saving or 
exception. 

: You must not be discouraged if you find 
'after reading the Constitution once or twice 
xhat you do not understand it thoroughly. You 
^are not expected to learn in a few months what 
'many lav/yers have failed to comprehend in a 
Jlife time; but you should have made an honest 
^effort to learn something about it, as indicated 
fin the first paragraph of this article. If you 
'Avish to know the meaning of such words and 
phrases as duties, imposts and excises, direct 
tax, impeachment, letters of marque and re¬ 
prisal, habeas corpus, bill of attainder, ex post 
facto law, admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, 
attainder of treason, etc., occurring in the Con¬ 
stitution, inquire of some lawyer friend, or con¬ 
sult some large dictionary in the public library 
or elscAvhere, where you will obtain a fuller and 
more satisfactory explanation than could be 
given in a work of this size. 

If you wish to do so, you may, upon the final 
hearing of your petition, and as a part of your 
naturalization, have your name changed by the 
court in its discretion to such other name as 
you may see fit to take, and your certificate 
will be issued to you accordingly in the name 
which you have thus chosen. 

Under the heading of ‘‘Extracts from the 
Naturalization Act of 1906, etc.,” in another 
part of this work you will find all those portions 
of the Naturalization law which touch upon the 
qualifications of applicants for citizenship, and 
which mark out the procedure Avhich must be 


23 


followed by the applicant, together with certain, 
rides and regulations adopted by the Depart^ 
ment at Washington for carrying the law into 
effect, which we have deemed of any immediate 
importance for the applicant to know, and thes^ 
should be read over by you, so that you may^ 
know from the law itself what the law isJ 
although the most of what you will find ha^' 
already been explained to you in the foregoingf 
pages. 1 

CHAPTER II. V 

Facts About United States History. ^ 

The United States dates its birth from the ( i 
4th day of July, 1776. On that day what is 
known as the Declaration of Independence was I 
adopted by the Continental Congress, the then U 
representative body of the American people. ]j 
This document (written by Thomas Jefferson, 1 
afterwards third president of the United \ 
States), after reciting the causes impel¬ 
ling the American people to separate from 
Great Britain, declares, among other things, 
that the United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent states, that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the 
British Crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the state of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be dissolved. The adoption of 
the Declaration of Independence created a great 
deal of rejoicing among the people at the time, 
and ever since that time the 4th of July has 
been celebrated by the American people as their 
greatest national holiday. 



Up to this time, what are now commonly 
known as the original Thirteen Colonies, name¬ 
ly: Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 
South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, 
comprising the present States of those names, 
together with other territory which has been 
since carved from them and formed into other 
States, were simply colonies belonging to Great 
Britain, owing and confessing allegiance to that 
country, and governed by its representatives 
and its laws. 

For a little more than a year before, however, 
the colonies had been engaged in a war with 
Great Britain, known as the Revolutionary 
War, which was still in progress, and which 
continued for several years afterwards. 

This war began with the battle of Lexington, 
on April 19, 1775, and ended with the Treaty of 
Paris, on September 3, 1783, in which Great 
Britain acknowledged the independence of the 
United States; thus lasting over eight years. 

Up to the time of the battle of Lexington 
there had not been any serious clash between 
the people of the colonies and Great Britain, 
although there had been a growing discontent 
existing ever since the passage of what is 
known as the Stamp Act by the British gov¬ 
ernment in 1765, which ordered that stamps 
bought of the British government should be 
put on all legal documents, newspapers, pam¬ 
phlets, etc., and the Mutiny Act, later, which 
required the colonists to provide the British 


25 


soldiers with quarters and necessary supplies. 
This discontent finally brought on the battle 
of Lexington and the Eevolutionary War which 
followed, and which as we have seen resulted 
in the complete separation of the colonies from 
Great Britain, and the establishment of the 
Republic of the United States of America. 

During the war the thirteen States had 
agreed upon what were called Articles of Con¬ 
federation, which were to determine the rela¬ 
tions of the States toward each other and 
toward the general government, hut these were 
found to be very unsatisfactory in many re¬ 
spects, and finally on September 17, 1787, after 
a convention had been called to revise thfe 
Articles of Confederation, an entirely new Conv 
stitution was adopted, and in the following year 
the government was organized, and in 1789 it\ 
went into operation. This Constitution, so\ 
adopted in 1787, has been in operation now for 
more than one hundred and twenty-five years, 
with the addition of only a few amendments 
thereto, which have been adopted from time to 
time. 

The first President of the United States un¬ 
der the Constitution was George Washington, 
who was inaugurated April 30, 1789, and served 
for eight years. He had previously been 
Commander-in-Chief of the American forces 
throughout the Revolutionary War. Since 
Washington there have been twenty-six other 
presidents, prominent among them being 
Thomas Jefferson, the third President, who 
wrote the Declaration of Independence, and 


26 


during whose administration the great Louisi¬ 
ana Purchase, adding over one million square 
miles to the territory of the United States, to¬ 
gether with the full possession of the Mississippi 
river, was made; Andrew Jackson, the seventh 
President, who also served for eight years, and 
who is noted for his sturdiness of purpose and 
his actions in regard to the Nullification trou¬ 
bles in South Carolina and the United States 
Bank question; Abraham Lincoln, the great 
Civil War President, who in 1863 issued the 
famous Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all 
of the slaves in the United States, and who was 
shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, at Ford’s 
theatre, in Washington, D. C., on April 14,1865 ; 
Ulysses S. Grant, who had led the Union army 
during the close of the Civil War; William 
McKinley, during whose administration Hawaii, 
Porto Rico and the Philippines were added to 
the United States, and who was shot by an 
anarchist at Buffalo, N. Y., in September, 1901, 
and died within a week thereafter on September 
14, 1901; and Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded 
President McKinley and who is noted for his in¬ 
dependence of character, his versatility of mind, 
and the very vigorous and able manner in 
which he conducted his high office. 

There have also been a great number of 
prominent statesmen in the United States who 
have never reached the presidential chair, 
among whom may be mentioned Benjamin 
Franklin, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Alex¬ 
ander Hamilton, John Marshall (more noted as 
a great jurist), Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, 


27 


John C. Calhoun, Charles Sumner, Stephen A. 
Douglas, William H. Seward, Alexander H. 
Stephens, James G. Blaine, John Sherman and 
Roscoe Conklin. 

Since the beginning of our present govern¬ 
ment, the following w^ars have been fought be¬ 
tween the United States and other countries: 

1. The War of 1812, with Great Britain, lasting 
two years, and resulting in the settlement in 
favor of the United States of certain questions 
left undetermined by the Revolutionary War, 
among them the question of the impressment of 
our American seamen; 2. The War with Mexi¬ 
co, in 1846 and 1847, whereby we acquired Cali¬ 
fornia, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and parts of 
Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico 
from the Mexican government; and 3. The War| 
with Spain, in 1898, whereby Cuba was liber¬ 
ated from Spanish control, and Porto Rico and 
the Philippine Islands acquired by the United 
States. 

In addition to the foregoing, between the 
years 1861 and 1865 was fought the great Civil I 
War between the people of the Northern and 
Southern States in this country, over the ques-j 
tion of slavery and State’s rights. By this wah- 
slavery was forever abolished within the United • 
States, and the question of the right of the 
States to secede from the Union laid to rest. 

The territory of the United States has been 
greatly augmented. From the original thirteen I 
States, occupying a narrow strip along the I 
Atlantic seaboard, and containing an area of / 
only 800,000 square miles, the country has grown 


28 




I 

i 

until there are now forty-eight States and two 
Territories, comprising about four million 
square miles, and reaching from the Atlantic 
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from the Great 
Lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on 
the south; not including its quite recent acquisi¬ 
tions of Porto Rico, Guam, Samoa and the 
Philippines, which contain about one hundred 
and fifty thousand square miles. 

This additional territory was acquired mainly 
in three ways: 1. By Purchase, as in the case 
of the Louisiana Purchase, from France, in 
1803; of Florida, from Spain, in 1819, and of 
Alaska, from Russia, in 1867; 2. By Conquest, 
as in the case of California and other Pacific 
states, as we have already seen, from Mexico, 
in 1846, and of Porto Rico and the Philippines, 
from Spain, in 1898; and 3. By Annexation, 
I as in the case of Texas in 1845 and Hawaii in 
1898. 

The population has also increased from be¬ 
tween three and four millions at the time of 
, the Revolution to over ninety-two millions, 
I not including- the populations of Hawaii, the 
! Philippines and Porto Rico, which are esti¬ 
mated at about nine millions. 

From almost its beginning the United States 
has been famous for its inventions, among these 
I being the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, 
,jn 1793, for separating the seed from the fiber; 
7 , the steamboat, invented by Robert Fulton, in 
d 1807; the sewing-machine, invented by Elias 
jl Howe, in 1846; the magnetic telegraph, in- 
\ vented by Samuel F. B. Morse, in 1837; and 


29 





also the telephone, the phonograph, the type¬ 
setting machine, the reaper, the mower, the 
thresher, the breech-loading gun, the steam 
fire engine, the elevator, the typewriter, the 
electric light, and many others. 

In wealth, the United States is probably not 
inferior to any other country in the world, j 
caused not only by its great natural advantages 
and resources, but by the industry, progressive¬ 
ness and enlightenment of its people, who enjoy 
better educational advantages, and more free¬ 
dom of thought and more liberty of action, and 
who are more contented than any other people 
on the face of the globe. 


CHAPTER III. 

Facts About the Government of the 

United States. j 

The United States is a Republic; that is, it j 
belongs to that class of states or countries in , 
which the people, having gotten rid of their old 
form of government managed by kings and 
nobles, have provided a new system of govern¬ 
ment for themselves, whereby their laws are . 
made and executed by their own representa- ; 
tives, chosen for a limited period by all, or 
nearly all, of the people and re-elected as 
occasion requires. The chief executive officer^j- 
in a republic is called its President. Other^^ 
examples of a republic are France, Switzer-^ 
land, Portugal and Mexico. £ 

The capital, or seat of government, of the^^ 


30 


United States is at the city of Washington, in 
the District of Columbia, and the chief govern¬ 
ment buildings, the President’s mansion, called 
the White House, and the offices of the Presi¬ 
dent and his Cabinet and of the various bureaus 
of the government, and the Houses of Congress 
I where the laws of the United States are made, 
and the Supreme Court of the United States, 
j are at that place. 

I The supreme law of the United States is the 
Constitution of the United States, together with 
the laws of the United States made in pursu¬ 
ance of the Constitution, and the treaties made 
under the authority of the United States, and 
all judges of the various states are bound there¬ 
by, no matter what may be contained in the 
State Constitutions or laws to the contrary. 

, The Constitution of the United States, also 
’ called the Federal Constitution, to distinguish 
! it from the State Constitutions, is the organic 
■ law of the United States. It provides for the 
vesting of the legislative, executive and judicial 
powers, granted to the Federal or United States 
government by the people of the States, in cer¬ 
tain departments or officers of the government 
therein created and provided for, together with 
the definition, limitation and regulation of such 
powers, and the organization and constitution 
of such departments and the election or appoint- 
i ment of such officers. It also imposes certain 
') duties and restrictions upon the States in order 
\ to secure the powers granted; and it also pro- 
! vides certain rules, principles or safeguards, for 
the protection of the citizens of the States as 


31 


against any possible encroachment upon their 
natural or primary rights by the Federal gov¬ 
ernment. 1 

The purposes of the Constitution, as ex-1 
pressed in its preamble, are: “to form a more! 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquility, provide for the common defense, | 
promote the general welfare, and secure the I 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos¬ 
terity. ’ ’ 

The authority of the United States govern¬ 
ment is divided by the Constitution into three 
parts: the legislative, the executive, and the 
judicial, distributed as follows: 

The legislative powers are vested in Congress, 
the executive powers in the President, and tie 
judicial powers in the Supreme Court of tlie 
United States and in such inferior courts as 
Congress may from time to time ordain an! 
establish. In other words, the laws of th( 
United States are made by Congress, are exe-l 
euted and enforced by the President, and are{ 
interpreted or construed by the courts. J 

The President of the United States is elected! 
every four years by the votes of the people of 
all the States, and, by custom, is eligible to re- 
election but once. He is not voted for directly 
by the people, but through electors, sometimes! 
called presidential electors, who constitute 
what IS called the electoral college, for 
whom the people vote, and they in turn vote>, 
tor the President; each State electing or appoint-! 
ing, in such manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of these presidential elec- j 


32 





, tors equal to the number of Senators and Kep- 
r resentatives to which the State is entitled in 
t .Congress. 

' f These presidential electors in each State are 
required to meet and give their votes on the 
second Monday in January next following their 
appointment, at such place in each State as the 
Legislature of such State shall direct. After the 
V ' electors have met and voted, it is further re- 
' quired by law that they make and sign and seal 
J three certificates of all the votes given by them; 

two of which certificates are sent by them forth- 
•: with after said second Monday in January to 
the President of the Senate at the seat of Gov¬ 
ernment,—one in care of a person appointed by 
the electors or a majority of them, and the other 
I by the Postoffice. The third certificate is deliv- 
' ered by the electors to the Judge of the District 
“ in which the electors shall assemble. Thereafter, 
on the second Wednesday in February, the cer¬ 
tificates are opened, presented and acted upon 
in the presence of both Houses of Congress, in 
the Hall of the House of Representatives, and 
j the result is thereupon declared and announced 
/ and entered on the Journals of the two Houses. 

Note.—In the Constitution the word elector 
1 is used in two different ways: 1. In referring 
' to the ordinary elector, or voter, who votes for 
the ordinary officers of the State, or National 
government, as in Section 2 of Article I; and, 
2. In referring to presidential electors, or those 
who alone may vote for president and vice- 
president, as in the second paragraph of Sec¬ 
tion 1 of Article II, and in Article XH of the 


33 




Amendments to the Constitution. This double 
use of the word has caused some confusion and 
uncertainty among the students of the Constitu- ^ 
tion, and it will be well for such to observe the \ 
distinction here pointed out. I, 

The Vice-President of the United States is J 
elected in the same way, and at the same time / 
and must have the same qualifications as the | ' 
President. \ , 

No person except a natural born citizen of ' 
the United States can be elected President, and \ 
he must have attained the age of thirty-five I 
years, and been fourteen years a resident with- \ 
in the United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from 
office, or of his death, resignation or inability to 
act, the duties of the office devolve upon the 
Vice-President. 

The President is the Commander-in-Chief of ' 
the Army and Navy of the United States, and i 
of the Militia of the several States, when called 1 
into the actual service of the United States. f 

The President has power, by and with the ^ 
advice and consent of the Senate to make 
treaties, and he may nominate, and by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, may ap¬ 
point Ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls. Judges of the Supreme Court, and cer¬ 
tain other officers of the United States. 

The principal duties of the President are to 
pass upon matters presented to him by Congress 
and to approve or disapprove them, to see that 
the laws are faithfully executed, or enforced. 




and to commission all the officers of the United 
States. 

The President has his Cabinet, consisting of 
the heads of the various sub-departments of the 
executive branch of the government, who are 
appointed by him with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, to assist him in executing the 
laws. These are as follows: 1. Secretary of 
State; 2. Secretary of the Treasury; 3. Sec¬ 

retary of War; 4. Attorney-General; 5. Post¬ 
master-General; 6. Secretary of the Navy; 
7. Secretary of the Interior; 8. Secretary of 
Agriculture; and 9. Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor. 

The President’s salary is $75,000 per year, 
and he has also the use of the White House, 
and an allowance for contingent and traveling 
expenses. 

The laws of the United States are passed by 
Congress, but must be approved by the Presi- 
^ dent, unless in case of his disapproval they 
vsl cive the votes of two-thirds of each House 
ac Congress. 

lo^he Congress of the United States consists 
, y^f a Senate and House of Representatives. .It 
neets once a year, on the first Monday in De¬ 
cember, at Washington, D. C. 

) i The Senate is composed of two Senators from 
\ iach State, chosen by the Legislature of the 
( State, for six years. No person can be a Sen¬ 
ator unless he has attained the age of thirty • 
' years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and he must be an inhabitant of 
' j the State from which he is chosen. 


35 



The House of Representatives is composed of i 
members chosen every second year by the peo¬ 
ple of the several States; they serve for tw 
years. 



No person can be a Representative who ha^ 
not attained the age of twenty-five years, an(>. 
been seven years a citizen of the United States, 
and he must be an inhabitant of the State in 
which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives are apportioned among the 
States according to population; that is, while 
each State, large or small, has two Senators in 
Congress, it has only one Representative for 
each certain number of people, or inhabitsints, 
which it contains. The number of Representa¬ 
tives in Congress is fixed by law every ten 
years, when a new census is taken, and the 
ratio of representation changes at such per;iods. 
The last census was taken in 1910 and recently 
a law based upon that census was passed by 
Congress fixing the ratio of representatioij at 
one Representative for every 211,877 i 
tants and providing for 433 members 



House of Representatives. 


Representatives are also called “Congres! 
men.” 


Representatives and presidential electors are ' 


the only Federal officers elected by popula. 


vote. United States Senators, as we hav^ 


seen, are elected by the legislatures 


States. All other United States officers are 
appointed either by the President by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, or bv 




or by the heads of Departments. See Section 
2 of Article II of the Constitution. 

; Each organized territory of the United States 
has a Delegate in the House of Representatives, 
/ who can sit in the House, and debate but not 
^ vote. 

All bills for raising revenue must originate 
in the House of Representatives; they cannot 
originate in the Senate. 

The Vice-President of the United States is 
President of the Senate; the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives chooses its presiding officer, who is 
called its Speaker. 

Congress has power, among other things, to 
coin money; to regulate commerce with foreign 
nations; to establish a uniform rule of natur¬ 
alization; to establish postoffices; to declare 
v/ar; to make laws for carrying into execution 
its powers, etc. 

No title of nobility can be granted by the 
United States, and no person holding any office 
of profit or trust under the United States can 
accept of any present, emolument, office or title 
^ of any kind, from any king, prince, or foreign 
State, without the consent of Congress. 

The Revenue of the United States, with which 
to pay the demands of the government, is raised 
V at the present time entirely by what is called 
indirect taxation; that is, by duties and imposts 
imposed upon the importation of goods into the 
United States, and excises, an inland tax levied 
upon the manufacture or sale of certain articles 
such as liquors and tobacco, and upon the use 
i I ) of certain documents to which revenue stamps 


37 


have to be affixed, and also by a special excise 
tax paid annually by corporations, joint stock 
companies or associations, and insurance com¬ 
panies, upon their entire net income over a 
certain amount. These duties and imposts 
are collected by the Custom House officers, 
and the excises by the Collectors of Internal 
Revenue. 

Congress has the right, under the Constitu¬ 
tion, to levy direct taxes, but except in a very 
few instances no direct taxes have ever been 
levied by the United States government. 


The revenues of the State governments, on 
the contrary, are always raised by direct tax¬ 
ation, that is by a poll-tax imposed upon in¬ 
dividuals at so much a person, and by taxes 
upon land and personal property. 

The highest court in this country is the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and con¬ 
sists of the Chief Justice and eight Associate 
Justices. This court meets at Washington, 
D. C., annually on the first Wednesday in De¬ 
cember. The Judges are appointed by the 
President of the United States, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate of thej 
United States, and hold their office during* 
good behavior. The present Chief Justice isl 
Hon. Edward D. White. ' 

Other courts of the United States are the 
United States circuit courts of appeals. United 
States court of claims. United States court of pri¬ 
vate land claims, court of appeals of the District 
of Columbia, district courts of the United 


38 



States, and United States court of customs 
appeals. 

The Flag of the United States has thirteen 
stripes, seven red and six white, the red and 
white stripes alternating, and the union of the 
Flag consists of white stars in a blue field placed 
in the upper quarter next the staff, and extend¬ 
ing to the lower edge of the fourth red stripe 
from the top. The number of stars is the same 
as the number of States in the Union. On the 
admission of a State into the Union one star is 
added to the union of the Flag, such addition 
taking effect on the 4th day of July next suc¬ 
ceeding such admission. 

The United States consists, physically, of 
States and Territories. 

Each State has its own government and 
makes its own laws ; it has its own constitution, 
which is subject, however, to the Constitution 
of the United States, and the people elect their 
own officers. It has its Representatives in the 
United States Congress who help to make the 
laws of the United States. It is a sovereign 
part of the United States, and is supreme in 
all matters concerning its inhabitants and the 
property within its borders, except where that 
supremacy has been granted, in the Constitution 
of the United States, to the Federal government. 

The status of a Territory is quite different 
from that of a State. While a Territory has a 
Legislature elected, in part at least, by the 
people, the power of the Legislature is limited 
by certain restrictions, and its acts, besides 
being subject to the veto of the Governor, may 


39 


be annulled by an Act of Congress. The officers 
from Governor down to Superintendent of Edu¬ 
cation are appointed by the President and con¬ 
firmed by the Senate of the United States. The 
Territories have no part in the election of the 
President of the United States, nor have they 
Senators or Representatives in Congress, though 
each Territory is entitled to one Delegate to 
the House of Representatives, who sits in that 
House and can debate, but has no vote. 

Almost all of the States, except the original 
thirteen, have at some time been territories of 
the United States, and have been admitted into 
the Union and become States under the pro¬ 
visions of the Constitution and laws of the 
United States. Before its admission as a State, 
each Territory adopts its own Constitution for 
the regulation of the property rights and per¬ 
sonal rights of its inhabitants, which must be 
consistent v/ith the Constitution of the United 
States. This State Constitution is, next to the 
Constitution of the United States, the supreme 
law of the State. 

The chief officer in a State or Territory is 
called its Governor, and each State has its 
governing body, usually called its Legislature, 
which, like the Congress of the United States, 
is composed of two houses, or sets of lawmakers, 
and each State or Territory has its Supreme 
Court and inferior courts for the administra¬ 
tion of justice, and each subdivision of the 
State or Territory, called a county, has its local 
governing body, called usually its Board of 
Supervisors, or Commissioners. 


40 


There are various ways in which public officers 
may be removed from office: 1. By Impeach¬ 
ment, as in the case of the President or Vice- 
President of the United States, Judges of the 
United States Courts; the Governor, Lieutenant- 
Governor or other officers of a State, and Judges 
of the State Courts. 2. By Expulsion, as in the 
case of a Senator or Representative in the Con¬ 
gress of the United States, or a member of a 
State Legislature. 3. By Accusation, as in the 
case of District, County, Township or Municipal 
officers in a State. 4. By the will of the appoint¬ 
ing power, as in the case of certain appointive 
officers; and 5. By the new method of Recall, 
recently adopted in some of the States of the 
Union, for the removal of almost any kind of 
officer of the State, County or Municipal govern¬ 
ment, or member of the Legislature. 

In the case of impeachment, the charges are 
brought against the officer by the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives and are tried by the Senate; or, in 
the case of a State officer, they are brought by 
the Assembly and tried by the State Senate. In 
the case of an Accusation the charges are brought 
by the Grand Jury of the County, or by any 
person, and are tried by the Superior Court, or 
other court of record, of the County or District. 
In the case of a Recall, the charges are brought 
by a petition signed by a certain percentage of 
the electors, and the matter is decided at an elec¬ 
tion called for the purpose. 

Each State has the right to say who of its 
inhabitants shall exercise the privileges of an 
elector; in other words, who shall vote and 


41 


hold office, within its borders: Provided, how¬ 
ever, that its laws in this respect do not conflict 
with the Constitution of the United States. 
Usually all citizens of the State, with the ex¬ 
ception of women, males under the age of 
twenty-one years, and Indians, vote and are 
privileged to hold office, and in some States 
aliens who have taken out their first paper, and 
women, exercise these privileges. 

Article XV of the Constitution of the United 
States provides that “The right of citizens of 
the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged by the United States or by any State 
on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude.” 

This Amendment to the Constitution was 
added shortly after the Civil War to prevent 
the States from disfranchising the negro. 

Article XIV provides that all persons born 
or naturalized in the United States, an^ sub¬ 
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citiz(^ns of 
the United States and of the State whereip they 
reside. ' 


CHAPTER IV. 

Extracts From the Naturalization Act of 1906, 
Etc., As Amended June 25, 1910. 

The following extracts from the Naturaliza¬ 
tion Law contain all of the provisions of the 
Act relating to the qualifications of applicants 
for citizenship, and the steps which they must 
take in becoming naturalized, and are copied 


42 


verbatim from the law as furnished by the 
Department: 

Sec. 3. That exclusive jurisdiction to nat¬ 
uralize aliens as citizens of the United States 
is hereby conferred upon the following speci¬ 
fied courts: 

United States circuit and district courts now 
existing, or which may hereafter be established 
by Congress in any State, United States dis¬ 
trict courts for the Territories of Arizona, New 
Mexico, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Alaska, the 
supreme court of the District of Columbia, and 
the United States courts for the Indian Terri¬ 
tory; also all courts of record in any State or 
Territory now existing, or which may hereafter 
be created, having a seal, a clerk, and juris¬ 
diction in actions at law or equity, or law and 
equity, in which the amount in controversy is 
unlimited. 

That the naturalization jurisdiction of all 
courts herein specified. State, Territorial, and 
Federal, shall extend only to aliens resident 
within the respective judicial districts of such 
courts. * * ^ 

Sec. 4. That an alien may be admitted to 
become a citizen of the United States in the 
following manner and not otherwise: 

First. He shall declare on oath before the 
clerk of any court authorized by this Act to 
naturalize aliens, or his authorized deputy, in 
the district in which such alien resides, two 
3 ^ears at least prior to his admission, and after 
he has reached the age of eighteen years, that 
it is bona fide his intention to become a citizen 


43 


of the United States, and to renounce forever 
all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, 
potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particular¬ 
ly, by name, to the prince, potentate, state or 
sovereignty of which the alien may be at the 
time a citizen or subject. And such declaration 
shall set forth the name, age, occupation, per¬ 
sonal description, place of birth, last foreign 
residence and allegiance, the date of arrival, 
the name of the vessel, if any, in v/hich he came 
to the United States, and the present place of 
residence in the United States of said alien: 
Provided, however, that no alien who, in con¬ 
formity with the law in force at the date of his 
declaration, has declared his intention to be¬ 
come a citizen of the United States shall be 
required to renew such declaration: Provided 
further. That any person belonging to the class 
of persons authorized and qualified under ex¬ 
isting law to become a citizen of the United 
States who has resided constantly in the United 
States during a period of five years next pre¬ 
ceding May first, nineteen hundred and ten, 
who, because of misinformation in regard to his 
citizenship or the requirements of the law gov¬ 
erning the naturalization of citizens has labored 
and acted under the impression that he was or 
could become a citizen of the United States and 
has in good faith exercised the rights or duties 
of a citizen or intended citizen of the United 
States because of such wrongful information and 
belief may, upon making a showing of such 
facts satisfactory to a court having jurisdiction 
to issue papers of naturalization to an alien, and 


44 


the court in its judgment believes that such 
person has been for a period of more than five 
years entitled upon proper proceedings to be 
naturalized as a citizen of the United States, 
receive from the said court a final certificate of 
naturalization, and said court may issue such 
certificate without requiring proof of former 
declaration by or on the part of such person of 
their intention to become a citizen of the United 
States, but such applicant for naturalization 
shall comply in all other respects with the law 
relative to the issuance of final papers of natur¬ 
alization to aliens. 

Second. Not less than two years nor more 
than seven years after he has made such declar¬ 
ation of intention he shall make and file, in 
duplicate, a petition in writing, signed by the 
applicant in his own handwriting, and duly 
verified, in which petition such applicant shall 
state his full name, his place of residence (by 
street and number, if possible), his occupation, 
and, if possible, the date and place of his birth; 
the place from which he emigrated, and the date 
and place of his arrival in the United States, 
and if he entered through a port, the name of 
the vessel on which he arrived; the time when 
and the place and name of the court where he 
declared his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States; if he is married he shall state the 
name of his wife and, if possible, the country 
of her nativity and her place of residence at the 
time of filing his petition; and if he has chil¬ 
dren, the name, date, and place of birth and 
place of residence of each child living at the 


time of the filing of his petition: Provided, 
that if he has filed his declaration before the 
passage of this Act he shall not be required to 
sign the petition in his own handwriting. 

The petition shall set forth that he is not a 
disbeliever in or opposed to organized govern¬ 
ment, or a member of or affiliated with any 
organization or body of persons teaching dis¬ 
belief in or opposed to organized government, 
a polygamist or believer in the practice of 
polygamy, and that it is his intention to become 
a citizen of the United States and to renounce 
absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity 
to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sov¬ 
ereignty, and particularly, by name, to the 
prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which 
he at the time of filing of his petition may be a 
citizen or subject, and that it is his intention to 
reside permanently within the United States, 
and whether or not he has been denied admis¬ 
sion as a citizen of the United States, and, if 
denied, the ground or grounds of such denial, 
the court or courts in which such decision was 
rendered, and that the cause for such denial has 
since been cured or removed, and every fact 
material to his naturalization and required to 
be proved upon the final hearing of his applica¬ 
tion. 

The petition shall also be verified by the 
affidavits of at least two credible witnesses, who 
are citizens of the United States, and who shall 
state in their affidavits that they have person¬ 
ally known the applicant to be a resident of the 
United States for a period of at least five years 


46 


continuously, and of the State, Territory, or 
district in which the application is made for a 
period of at least one year immediately pre¬ 
ceding the date of the filing of his petition, and 
that they each have personal knowledge that 
the petitioner is a person of good moral char¬ 
acter, and that he is in every way qualified, in 
their opinion, to be admitted as a citizen of the 
United States. 

At the time of filing his petition there shall 
be filed with the clerk of the court a certificate 
from the Department of Commerce and Labor, 
if the petitioner arrives in the United States 
after the passage of this Act, stating the date, 
place, and manner of his arrival in the United 
States, and the declaration of intention of such 
petitioner, which certificate and declaration 
shall be attached to and made a part of said 
petition. 

Third. He shall, before he is admitted to 
citizenship, declare on oath in open court that 
he will support the Constitution of the United 
States, and that he absolutely and entirely re¬ 
nounces and abjures all allegiance and fidelity 
to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or 
sovereignty, and particularly by name to the 
prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which 
he was before a citizen or subject; that he will 
support and defend the Constitution and laws 
of the United States against all enemies, foreign 
and domestic, and bear true faith and allegiance 
to the same. 

Fourth. It shall be made to appear to the 
satisfaction of the court admitting any alien to 


47 


citizenship that immediately preceding the date 
of his application he has resided continuously 
within the United States five years at least, and 
within the State or Territory where such court 
is at the time held one year at least, and that 
during that time he has behaved as a man of 
good moral character, attached to the principles 
of the Constitution of the United States, and 
well disposed to the good order and happiness 
of the same. In addition to the oath of the 
applicant, the testimony of at least two wit¬ 
nesses, citizens of the United States, as to the 
facts of residence, moral character, and attach¬ 
ment to the principles of the Constitution shall 
be required, and the name, place of residence, 
and occupation of each witness shall be set 
forth in the record. 

Fifth. In case the alien applying to be ad¬ 
mitted to citizenship has borne any hereditary 
title or has been of any of the orders of nobility 
in the kingdom or state from which he came, 
he shall in addition to the above requisites, 
make an express renunciation of his title or 
order of nobility in the court to which his 
application is made, and his renunciation shall 
be recorded in the court. 

Sixth. When any alien who has declared his 
intention to become a citizen of the United 
States dies before he is actually naturalized the 
widow and minor children of such alien may, 
by complying with the other provisions of this 
Act, be naturalized without making any declar¬ 
ation of intention. 

Sec. 5. That the clerk of the court shall. 


48 


immediately after filing tlie petition, give notice 
thereof by posting in a public and conspicuous 
place in his office, or in the building in which 
his office is situated, under an appropriate head¬ 
ing, the name, nativity, and residence of the 
alien, the date and place of his arrival in the 
United States, and the date, as nearly as may 
be, for the final hearing of his petition, and the 
names of the witnesses whom the applicant ex¬ 
pects to summon in his behalf; and the clerk 
shall, if the applicant requests it, issue a sub¬ 
poena for the witnesses so named by the said 
applicant to appear upon the day set for the 
final hearing, but in ease such witnesses cannot 
be produced upon the final hearing other wit¬ 
nesses may be summoned. 

Sec. 6. That petitions for naturalization 
may be made and filed during term time or 
vacation of the court and shall be docketed the 
same day as filed, but final action thereon shall 
be had only on stated days, to be fixed by rule 
of the court, and in no case shall final action be 
had upon a petition until at least ninety days 
have elapsed after filing and posting the notice 
of such petition: Provided, that no person shall 
be naturalized nor shall any certificate of natur¬ 
alization be issued by any court within thirty 
days preceding the holding of any general elec¬ 
tion within its territorial jurisdiction. It shall 
be lawful, at the time and as a part of the 
naturalization of any alien, for the court, in its 
discretion, upon the petition of such alien, to 
make a decree changing the name of said alien. 


49 


and his certificate of naturalization shall be is¬ 
sued to him in accordance therewith. 

See. 7. That no person who disbelieves in or 
who is opposed to organized government, or 
who is a member of or affiliated with any or¬ 
ganization entertaining and teaching such dis¬ 
belief in or opposition to organized government, 
or who advocates or teaches the duty, necessity, 
or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or kill¬ 
ing of any officer or officers, either of specific 
individuals or of officers generally, of the Gov¬ 
ernment of the United States, or of any other 
organized government, because of his or their 
official character, or who is a polygamist, shall 
be naturalized or be made a citizen of the 
United States. 

Sec. 8. That no alien shall hereafter be nat¬ 
uralized or admitted as a citizen of the United 
States who cannot speak the English language: 
Provided, that this requirement shall not apply 
to aliens who are physically unable to comply 
therewith, if they are otherwise qualified to be¬ 
come citizens of the United States: And pro¬ 
vided further, that the requirements of this 
section shall not apply to any alien who has 
prior to the passage of this Act declared his 
intention to become a citizen of the United 
States in conformity with the law in force at 
the date of making such declaration: Provided 
further, that the requirements of section eight 
shall not apply to aliens who shall hereafter 
declare their intention to become citizens and 
who shall make homestead entries upon the 
public lands of the United States and comply 

50 


in all respects with the laws providing for 
homestead entries on such lands. 

Sec. 9. That every final hearing upon such 
petition shall be had in open court before a 
judge or judges thereof, and every final order 
which may be made upon such petition shall 
be under the hand of the court and entered in 
full upon a record kept for that purpose, and 
upon such final hearing of such petition the 
applicant and v/itnesses shall be examined un¬ 
der oath before the court and in the presence 
of the court. 

Sec. 10. That in case the petitioner has not 
resided in the State, Territory, or district for a 
period of five years continuously and immedi¬ 
ately preceding the filing of his petition he may 
establish by two witnesses, both in his petition 
and at the hearing, the time of his residence 
within the State, provided that it has been for 
more than one year, and the remaining portion 
of his five years’ residence within the United 
States required by law to be established may be 
proved by the depositions of two or more wit¬ 
nesses who are citizens of the United States, 
upon notice to the Bureau of Immigration and 
Naturalization and the United States attorney 
for the district in which said Avitnesses may 
reside. 

Sec. 11. That the United States shall have 
the right to appear before any court or courts 
exercising jurisdiction in naturalization pro¬ 
ceedings for the purpose of cross-examining the 
petitioner and the witnesses produced in sup¬ 
port of his petition concerning any matter 


51 


touching or in any way affecting his right to 
admission to citizenship, and shall have the 
right to call witnesses, produce evidence, and 
be heard in opposition to the granting of any 
petition in naturalization proceedings. 

Sec. 13. That the clerk of each and every 
court exercising jurisdiction in naturalization 
cases shall charge, collect, and account for the 
following fees in each proceeding: 

For receiving and filing a declaration of in¬ 
tention and issuing a duplicate thereof, one 
dollar. 

For making, filing, and docketing the petition 
of an alien for admission as a citizen of the 
United States and for the final hearing thereon, 
two dollars; and for entering the final order. 
and the issuance of the certificate of citizenship 
thereunder, if granted, two dollars. 

In addition to the fees herein required, the 
petitioner shall, upon the filing of his petition 
to become a citizen of the United States, deposit 
v/ith and pay to the clerk of the court a sum of 
money sufficient to cover the expenses of sub¬ 
poenaing and paying the legal fees of any wit¬ 
nesses for whom he may request a subpoena, 
and upon the final discharge of such witnesses 
they shall receive, if they demand the same 
from the clerk, the customary and usual witness 
fees from the moneys which the petitioner shall 
have paid to such clerk for such purpose, and 
the residue, if any, shall be returned by the 
clerk to the petitioner. 

Sec. 15. That it shall be the duty of the 
United States district attorneys for the respec- 


52 


tive districts, upon affidavit showing good cause 
therefor, to institute proceedings in any court 
having jurisdiction to naturalize aliens in the 
judicial district in which the naturalized citizen 
may reside at the time of bringing the suit, for 
the purpose of setting aside and canceling the 
certificate of citizenship on the ground of fraud 
or on the ground that such certificate of citizen¬ 
ship was illegally procured. In any such pro¬ 
ceedings the party holding the certificate of 
citizenship alleged to have been fraudulently 
or illegally procured shall have sixty days’ per¬ 
sonal notice in which to make answer to the 
petition of the United States; and if the holder 
of such certificate be absent from the United 
States or from the district in which he last had 
his residence, such notice shall be given by 
publication in the manner provided for the 
service of summons by publication or upon 
absentees by the laws of the State or the place 
where such suit is brought. 

If any alien who shall have secured a cer¬ 
tificate of citizenship under the provisions of 
this Act shall, within five years after the issu¬ 
ance of such certificate, return to the country 
of his nativity, or go to any other foreign coun¬ 
try, and take permanent residence therein, it 
shall be considered prima facie evidence of a 
lack of intention on the part of such alien to 
become a permanent citizen of the United States 
at the time of filing his application for citizen¬ 
ship, and, in the absence of countervailing evi¬ 
dence, it shall be sufficient in the proper pro¬ 
ceeding to authorize the cancellation of his 


53 


certificate of citizenship as fraudulent, and the 
diplomatic and consular officers of the United 
States in foreign countries shall from time to 
time, through the Department of State, furnish 
the Department of Justice with the names of 
those within their respective jurisdictions who 
have such certificates of citizenship and who 
have taken permanent residence in the country 
of their nativity, or in any other foreign coun¬ 
try, and such statements, duly certified, shall 
be admissible in evidence in all courts in pro¬ 
ceedings to cancel certificates of citizenship. 

Whenever any certificate of citizenship shall 
be set aside or canceled, as herein provided, the 
court in which such judgment or decree is ren¬ 
dered shall make an order canceling such cer¬ 
tificate of citizenship and shall send a certified 
copy of such order to the Bureau of Immigra¬ 
tion and Naturalization; and in ease such cer¬ 
tificate was not originally issued by the court 
making such order it shall direct the clerk of 
the court to transmit a copy of such order and 
judgment to the court out of which such cer¬ 
tificate of citizenship shall have been originally 
issued. And it shall thereupon be the duty of 
the clerk of the court receiving such certified 
copy of the order and judgment of the court to 
enter the same of record and to cancel such 
original certificate of citizenship upon the rec¬ 
ords and to notify the Bureau of Immigration 
and Naturalization of such cancellation. 

The provisions of this section shall apply not 
only to certificates of citizenship issued under 
the provisions of this Act, but to all certificates 


54 


of citizenship which may have been issued here¬ 
tofore by any court exercising jurisdiction in 
naturalization proceedings under prior laws. 

See. 23. That any person who knowingly 
procures naturalization in violation of the pro¬ 
visions of this Act shall be fined not more than 
five thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned 
not more than five years, or both, and upon con¬ 
viction the court in which such conviction is 
had shall thereupon adjudge and declare the 
final order admitting such person to citizenship 
void. Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the 
courts having jurisdiction of the trial of such 
offense to make such adjudication. Any person 
who knowingly aids, advises, or encourages any 
person not entitled thereto to apply for or to 
secure naturalization, or to file the preliminary 
papers declaring an intent to become a citizen 
of the United States, or who in any naturaliza¬ 
tion proceeding- knowingly procures or gives 
false testimony as to any material fact, or who 
knowingly makes an affidavit false as to any 
material fact required to be proved in such 
proceeding, shall be fined not more than five 
thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than 
five years, or both. 

Sec. 27. That substantially the following 
forms shall be used in the proceedings to which 
they relate: 


65 


DECLARATION OE INTENTION. 

(Invalid for all purposes seven years after 
the date hereof.) 

..., SS : 

I,., aged.years, occu¬ 
pation ., do declare on oath (affirm) 

that my personal description is: Color., 

complexion., height., weight., 

color of hair., color of eyes., other 

visible distinctive marks.; I was born 

in.on the.day of., anno Domini 

.; I now reside at.; I emigrated to 

the United States of America from. 

on the vessel.; my last foreign residence 

was. It is my bona fide intention to 

renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to 
any foreign prince, potentate, state or sov¬ 
ereignty, and particularly to., of v/hich 

I am now a citizen (subject) ; I arrived at the 

(port) of., in the State (Territory or 

District) of.on or about the.day 

of.anno Domini.; I am not an 

anarchist; I am not a polygamist nor a believer 
in the practice of polygamy; -and it is my in¬ 
tention in good faith to become a citizen of the 
United States of America and to permanently 
reside therein. So help me God. 

(Original signature of declarant) 


Subscribed and sworn to (affirmed) before 

me this.day of., anno Domini. 

[L. S.] 

(Official character of attestor.) 


56 
































PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION. 

.Court of. 

In the matter of the petition of. 

to be admitted as a citizen of the 
United States of America. 

To the.Court: 

The petition of.respectfully 

shows: 

First. My full name is. 

Second. My place of residence is number 

.street, city of., State (Territory 

or District) of. 

Third. My occupation is. 

Fourth. I was born on the.day of 

.at. 

Fifth. I emigrated to the United States 

from., on or about the. day of 

., anno Domini., and arrived at 

the port of., in the United States, on 

the vessel. 

Sixth. I declared my intention to become 

a citizen of the United States on the. 

day of.at., in the. 

court of. 

Seventh. I am.married. My wife’s 

name is. She was born in. 

and now resides at. I have. 

children, and the name, date, and place of birth 
and place of residence of each of said children 


67 































is as follows: 


Eighth. I am not a disbeliever in or opposed 
to organized government or a member of or 
affiliated with any organization or body of 
persons teaching disbelief in organized gov¬ 
ernment. I am not a polygamist nor a believer 
in the practice of polygamy. I am attached to 
the principles of the Constitution of the United 
States, and it is my intention to become a citi¬ 
zen of the United States and to renounce abso¬ 
lutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to 
any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sover¬ 
eignty, and particularly to., of which 

at this time I am a citizen (or subject), and it 
is my intention to reside permanently in the 
United States. 

Ninth. I am able to speak the English 
language. 

Tenth. I have resided continuously in the 
United States of America for a term of five 
years at least immediately preceding the date 
of this petition, to wit, since., anno 


Domini., and in the State (Territory 

or District) of.for one year at least 


next preceding the date of this petition, to wit, 
since.day of., anno Domini 


Eleventh. I have not heretofore made peti¬ 
tion for citizenship to any court. (I made 

petition for citizenship to the.court of 

.at., and the said petition was 

denied by the said court for the following rea¬ 
sons and causes, to wit, . 


68 
















and the cause of such denial has since been 
cured or removed.) 

Attached hereto and made a part of this pe¬ 
tition are my declaration of intention to become 
a citizen of the United States and the certificate 
from the Department of Commerce and Labor 
required by law. Wherefore your petitioner 
prays that he may be admitted a citizen of the 
United States of America. 

Dated. 

(Signature of petitioner). 

., ss : 

., being duly sworn, deposes 

and says that he is the petitioner in the above- 
entitled proceeding; that he has read the fore¬ 
going petition and knows the contents thereof; 
that the same is true of his own knowledge, 
except as to matters therein stated to be alleged 
upon information and belief, and that as to 
those matters he believes it to be true. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 

.day of., anno Domini. 

[L. S.] 

Clerk of the...Court. 

AFFIDAVIT OF WITNESSES. 

.Court of. 

In the matter of the petition of. 

to be admitted a citizen of the United 
States of America. 
., ss : 

., occupation., residing 

at., and., occupation. 


59 




















residing at., each being severally, duly, 

and respectively sworn, deposes and says that 
he is a citizen of the United States of America; 

that he has personally known., 

the petitioner above mentioned, to be a resident 
of the United States for a period of at least five 
years continuously immediately preceding the 
date of filing his petition, and of the State 
(Territory or District) in which the above- 
entitled application is made for a period of 

.years immediately preceding the date 

of filing his petition; and that he has personal 
knowledge that the said petitioner is a person 
of good moral character, attached to the prin¬ 
ciples of the Constitution of the United States, 
and that he is in every way qualified, in his 
opinion, to be admitted as a citizen of the 
United States. 


Subscribed and sworn to before me this. 

day of., nineteen hundred and..-. 

[L. S.] 


.? 

(Official character of attestor.) 

Sec. 30. That all the applicable provisions 
of the naturalization laws of the United States 
shall apply to and be held to authorize the ad¬ 
mission to citizenship of all persons not citizens 
who owe permanent allegiance to the United 
States, and who may become residents of any 
State or organized Territory of the United 
States, with the following modifications: The 
applicant shall not be required to renounce 


60 











allegiance to any foreign sovereignty; he shall 
make his declaration of intention to become a 
citizen of the United States at least two years 
prior to his admission; and residence within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, owing such 
permanent allegiance, shall be regarded as resi¬ 
dence within the United States within the mean¬ 
ing of the five years’ residence clause of the 
existing law. 


UNITED STATES EEVISED STATUTES 
AND STATUTES AT LARGE. 


PASSPORTS. 

PASSPORTS—HOW GRANTED. 

Sec. 4075 R. S. The Secretary of State may 
grant and issue passports, and cause passports to 
be granted, issued, and verified in foreign coun¬ 
tries by such diplomatic or consular officers of 
the United States, and by such chief or other 
executive officer of the insular possessions of the 
United States, and under such rules as the Presi¬ 
dent shall designate and prescribe for and on 
behalf of the United States, and no other person 
shall grant, issue, or verify any such passport. 
(14 Stat. L. 54.) 

(Fee of one dollar for issuing passport.) See 
25 Stat. L. 45. 


61 



THIETY-FOURTH STATUTES AT LARGE, 
PAGE 1228. 

(Act. of March 2, 1907, c. 2534.) 

PASSPORTS TO PERSONS AFTER DECLARATION 
OP INTENTION—EXTENT OP PROTECTION. 

Sec. 1. That the Secretary of State shall be 
authorized, in his discretion, to issue passports 
to persons not citizens of the United States as 
follows: Where any person has made a declara¬ 
tion of intention to become such a citizen as pro¬ 
vided by law and has resided in the United States 
for three years, a passport may be issued to him, 
entitling him to the protection of the Govern¬ 
ment in any foreign country: provided, That 
such passport shall not be valid for more than 
six months and shall not be renewed, and that 
such passport shall not entitle the holder to the 
protection of this Government in the country of 
which he was a citizen prior to making such dec¬ 
laration of intention. 

EXPATRIATION—BY FOREIGN NATURALIZATION, 
etc.—RESIDENCE ABROAD OP NATURALIZED 
PERSONS—REGULATIONS—TIME OP WAR. 

Sec. 2. That any American citizen shall be 
deemed to have expatriated himself when he has 
been naturalized in any foreign state in con¬ 
formity with its laws, or when he has taken an 
oath of allegiance to any foreign state. When 
any naturalized citizen shall have resided for 
two years in the foreign state from which he 
came, or for five years in any other foreign state, 
it shall be presumed that he has ceased to be an 


62 


American citizen, and the place of his general 
abode shall be deemed his place of residence dur¬ 
ing said years; provided, however, That such 
presumption may be overcome on the presenta¬ 
tion of satisfactory evidence to a diplomatic or 
consular officer of the United States, under such 
rules and regulations as the Department of State 
may prescribe; and provided, also. That no 
American citizen shall be allowed to expatriate 
himself when this country is at war. 

CITIZENSHIP. 

CITIZENSHIP OP AMERICAN WOMAN MARRYING 
A FOREIGNER. 

Sec. 3. That any American woman who 
marries a foreigner shall take the nationality 
of her husband. At the termination of the 
marital relation she may resume her American 
citizenship, if abroad, by registering as an 
American citizen within one year with a consul 
of the United States, or by returning to reside 
in the United States, or, if residing in the 
United States at the termination of the marital 
relation, by continuing to reside therein. 

CITIZENSHIP OF FOREIGN WOMAN MARRYING 
AN AMERICAN. 

See. 4. That any foreign woman who ac¬ 
quires American citizenship by marriage to an 
American shall be assumed to retain the same 
after the termination of the marital relation 
if she continue to reside in the United States, 
unless she makes formal renunciation thereof 
before a court having jurisdiction to naturalize 
aliens, or if she resides abroad she may retain 


her citizenship by registering as such before a 
United States consul within one year after the 
termination of such marital relation. 

CITIZENSHIP OP CHILDREN OP ALIEN PARENTS. 

Sec. 5. That a child born without the United 
States of alien parents shall be deemed a citizen 
of the United States by virtue of the naturaliz¬ 
ation of or resumption of American citizenship 
])y the parent; provided, That such naturaliza¬ 
tion or resumption takes place during the mi¬ 
nority of such child; and provided further, That 
the citizenship of such minor child shall begin 
at the time such minor child begins to reside per¬ 
manently in the United States. 

CHILDREN BORN ABROAD—REQUIRED TO RE¬ 
CORD INTENTION AT AGE OP 
EIGHTEEN—OATH. 

Sec. 6. That all children born outside the 
limits of the United States who are citizens 
thereof in accordance with the provisions of 
Section nineteen hundred and ninety-three of | 
the Revised Statutes of the United States and 
who continue to reside outside the United 
States shall, in order to receive the protection 
of this government, be required upon reaching 
the age of eighteen years to record at an Ameri¬ 
can Consulate their intention to become resi¬ 
dents and remain citizens of the United States, 
and shall be further required to take the oath 
of allegiance to the United States upon attain¬ 
ing their majority. 


64 


CITIZENSHIP OP CHILDREN BORN ABROAD. 

Sec. 1993. All children heretofore born or 
hereafter born out of the limits and jurisdiction 
of the United States, whose fathers were or 
may have been at the time of their birth citi¬ 
zens thereof, are declared to be citizens of the 
United States; but the rights of citizenship 
shall not descend to children whose fathers 
never resided in the United States. 

CITIZENSHIP OF WOMEN BY MARRIAGE. 

Sec. 1994. Any woman who is now or may 
hereafter be married to a citizen of the United 
States, and who might herself be lawfully nat¬ 
uralized, shall be deemed a citizen. 

HOMESTEADS. 

WHO MAY ENTER CERTAIN UNAPPROPRIATED 
PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of 
a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty- 
one years, and is a citizen of the United States, 
or who has filed his declaration of intention to 
become such, as required by the naturalization 
laws, shall be entitled to enter one-quarter sec¬ 
tion, or a less quantity, of unappropriated pub¬ 
lic lands, to be located in a body in conformity 
to the legal subdivisions of the public lands; but 
no person who is the proprietor of more than 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in any 
State or Territory, shall acquire any right under 
the homestead law. And every person owning 
and residing on land may, under the provisions 
of this section, enter other land lying contigu¬ 
ous to his land, which shall not, with the land 
66 


so already owned and occupied, exceed in the 
aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. (R. S.) 

(26 St. L. 1097.) 

Note.—Sec. 2290 provides the mode of pro¬ 
cedure, and Sec. 2291 provides for the issuance 
of the certificate and patent, confining patents 
to persons who are citizens only. 

DESERT LANDS. 

(Act of March 3, 1877, Ch. 107, 19 Stat. L. 377.) 

RECLAMATION AND PURCHASE OF DESERT 
LANDS—USE OF WATER. 

Sec. 1. That it shall be lawful for any citizen 
of the United States, or any person of requisite 
age ''who may be entitled to become a citizen, 
and who has filed his declaration to become 
such” and upon payment of twenty-five cents 
per acre—to file a declaration under oath with 
the register and the receiver of the land district 
in which any desert land is situated, that he in¬ 
tends to reclaim a tract of desert land not ex- , 
ceeding one section, by conducting water upon ^ 
the same, within the period of three years there¬ 
after, ■* * * * gaid declaration shall de¬ 

scribe particularly said section of land if sur¬ 
veyed, and, if unsurveyed, shall describe the i 
same as nearly as possible without a survey. At ; 
any time within the period of three years after ; 
filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory ( 
jiroof to the register and receiver of the reclama¬ 
tion, of said tract of land in the manner afore¬ 
said, and upon the payment to the receiver of 
the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a 
tract of land not exceeding six hundred and ! 


66 




forty acres to any one person, a patent for the 
same shall be issued to him. Provided that no 
person shall be permitted to enter more than one 
tract of land and not to exceed six hundred 
and forty acres which shall be in compact form. 

OWNERSHIP OF LAND IN TERRITORIES 
PROHIBITED TO ALIENS. 

(Act of March 2, 1897, Ch. 363, 29 Stat. L. 618.) 

Sec. 1. That no alien or person who is not a 
citizen of the United States, or who has not de¬ 
clared his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States in the manner provided by law, 
shall acquire title to or own any land in any of 
the Territories of the United States except as 
hereinafter provided: Provided, That the pro¬ 
hibition of this section shall not apply to cases 
in which the right to hold or dispose of lands in 
the United States is secured by existing treaties 
to citizens or subjects of foreign countries, which 
rights, so far as they may exist by force of any 
such treaty, shall continue to exist so long as 
such treaties are in force, and no longer. 

NATURALIZATION. 

HONORABLY DISCHARGED SOLDIERS EXEMPT FROM 
CERTAIN FORMALITIES. 

Sec. 2166. Any alien, of the age of twenty- 
one years and upward, Avho has enlisted, or may 
enlist, in the armies of the United States, either 
the regular or the volunteer forces, and has 
been, or may be hereafter, honorably dis¬ 
charged, shall be admitted to become a citizen 
of the United States, upon his petition, without 

67 


any previous declaration of his intention to be¬ 
come such; and he shall not be required to 
prove more than one year’s residence within the 
United States previous to his application to 
become such citizen; and the court admitting 
such alien shall, in addition to such proof of 
residence and good moral character, as now 
provided by law, be satisfied by competent 
proof of such person’s having been honorably 
discharged from the service of the United 
States. 

CHILDREN OF PERSONS NATURALIZED UNDER 
CERTAIN LAWS TO BE CITIZENS. 

See. 2172. The children of persons who have 
been duly naturalized under any law of the 
United States, or who, previous to the passing 
of any law on that subject, by the Government 
of the United States, may have become citizens 
of any one of the States, under the laws thereof, 
being under the age of twenty-one years at the 
time of the naturalization of their parents, shall, 
if dwelling in the United States, be considered 
as citizens thereof; and the children of persons 
who now are, or have been, citizens of the 
United States, shall, though born out of the 
limits and jurisdiction of the United States, be 
considered as citizens thereof; but no person 
heretofore proscribed by any State, or who has 
been legally convicted of having joined the 
army of Great Britain during the Revolutionary 
War, shall be admitted to become a citizen with¬ 
out the consent of the Legislature of the State 
in which such person was proscribed. 


68 



:! FIVE YEARS’ RESIDENCE REQUIRED. 

\ Sec. 2170. No alien shall be admitted to be- 
I come a citizen who has not for the continued 
' term of five years next preceding his admission 
resided wdthin the United States. 

ALIEN SEAMEN OF MERCHANT VESSELS. 

Sec. 2174. Every seaman, being a foreigner, 
'who declares his intention of becoming a citizen 
of the United States in any competent court, 
and shall have served three years on board of a 
merchant-vessel of the United States subsequent 
to the date of such declaration, may, on his 
application to any competent court, and the 
production of his certificate of discharge and 
good conduct during that time, together with 
the certificate of his declaration of intention to 
become a citizen, be admitted a citizen of the 
United States; and every seaman, being a for¬ 
eigner, shall, after his declaration of intention 
to become a citizen of the United States, and 
I after he shall have served such three years, be 
deemed a citizen of the United States for the 
purpose of manning and serving on board any 
merchant-vessel of the United States, anything 
to the contrary in any Act of Congress notwith¬ 
standing; but such seaman shall, for all pur¬ 
poses of protection as an American citizen, be 
deemed such, after the filing of his declaration 
of intention to become such citizen. 

[Act of July 26, 1894, Chap. 165, 28 Stat. 124.] 

ALIENS HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM SERVICE 
IN NAVY OR MARINE CORPS. 

Any alien of the age of twenty-one years and 
upward who has enlisted or may enlist in the 

69 





I 


United States Navy or Marine Corps, and has I 
served or may hereafter serve five consecutive 
years in the United States Navy or one enlist- | 
ment in the United States Marine Corps, and j 
has been or may hereafter be honorably dis¬ 
charged, shall be admitted to become a citizen 
of the United States upon his petition, without 
any previous declaration of his intention to be- * 
come such; and the court admitting such alien 
shall, in addition to proof of good moral char¬ 
acter, be satisfied by competent proof of such 
person’s service in and honorable discharge I 
from the United States Navy or Marine Corps, i 

An Act providing for the naturalization of 
the wife and minor children of insane aliens, 
making homestead entries under the land laws 
of the United States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of , 
Representatives of the United States of I 
America in Congress assembled. That when any 
alien, who has declared his intention to become 
a citizen of the United States, becomes insane 
before he is actually naturalized, and his wife 
shall thereafter make a homestead entry under 
the land laws of the United States, she and 
their minor children may, by complying with 
the other provisions of the naturalization laws 
be naturalized without making any declaratioiiji 
of intention. 

Approved, February 24, 1911. S 


f 


70 





NATURALIZATION REGULATIONS. 

October 1, 1912. 

2. Any alien who prior to September 27, 
1906, has declared his intention in conformity 
with the law in force at the date of his declara¬ 
tion, shall not be required to renew such declar¬ 
ation. 

3. Aliens who lawfully declared their inten¬ 
tion on and after June 29, 1906, and prior to 
September 27, 1906, must comply with all of 
the requirements of the naturalization act of 
June 29, 1906, in petitioning for naturalization. 

Aliens who declared their intention prior to 
June 29, 1906, in accordance with the require¬ 
ments of law, must comply with all of the re¬ 
quirements of the naturalization act of June 29, 
1906, in petitioning for naturalization, except 
that they will not be required to sign their 
petitions in their own handwriting, or to speak 
the English language. 

4. Any alien who declares his intention 
after June 29, 1906, and files his petition there¬ 
on, must sign said petition in his own hand¬ 
writing and must be able to speak the English 
language, unless excepted by the provisos in 
Section 8 of the naturalization act. If an alien 
is physically unable to speak, that fact should 
be stated in his petition in lieu of the state¬ 
ment, ‘‘I am able to speak the English lan¬ 
guage.” Aliens who arrive in the United 
States before reaching 18 years of age can not 
obtain citizenship without making declaration 


71 




of intention, which may be made at the place 
of their established residence after reaching 
that age. 

9. No certificate of naturalization shall be 
issued to a petitioner until after the judge of 
the court granting naturalization has signed 
the order to that effect. 

14. In every case in which the name of a 
naturalized alien is changed by order of court, 
as provided in Section 6, the clerk of the court 
is required to report both the original and the 
new name of the said person to the Bureau of 
Immigration and Naturalization (Division of 
Naturalization) when transmitting to it the 
duplicate of the certificate of naturalization of 
the alien whose name is changed. 

17. Applications for the issuance of declar¬ 
ations of intention (Form 2203) or certificates 
of naturalization (Form 2207), in lieu of dec¬ 
larations of intention or certificates of natural¬ 
ization claimed to have been lost or destroyed, 
shall be made under oath to the clerk of the 
court by which any such declarations of inten¬ 
tion or certificates of naturalization were orig¬ 
inally issued, and shall contain full information 
in regard to the lost or destroyed papers, and 
as to the time, place, and circumstances of such 
alleged loss or destruction. The clerk shall for¬ 
ward to the Bureau of Immigration and Natur¬ 
alization (Division of Naturalization) the 
above-mentioned applications, together with 
such information as he may have bearing upon 
the merits thereof, for investigation, and no 
such paper so applied for shall be issued until 


/ 


the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization 
(Division of Naturalization) reports the results 
of its investigation as to the merits of the ap¬ 
plication. 

Certified copies of declarations of intention 
(Form 2215) and certificates of naturalization 
(Form 2216) may be provided by clerks of 
courts under their hand and the seal of the 
court of which the papers originally issued, only 
for the use of persons who make entry upon 
public lands of the United States, and who are 
required to submit proof that they have declared 
their intention to become citizens, or have be¬ 
come naturalized. When issued these forms 
must be made in duplicate, one to be given to 
the person applying therefor and the duplicate 
forwarded with other naturalization papers on 
the first working day of the succeeding month 
to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturaliza¬ 
tion (Division of Naturalization). Unless the 
applicant presents to the clerk his original dec¬ 
laration or certificate for comparison, these 
forms can under no conditions be issued. 

This rule applies exclusively to naturaliza¬ 
tion papers issued since September 26, 1906. 

18. Original declarations of intention, or 
certificates of naturalization, issued subsequent 
to September 26, 1906, and surrendered to the 
General Land Office in support of entries upon 
public land, may be returned upon proper ap¬ 
plication. In cases of declarations of intention 
the clerk will forward the application to the 
Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization 
(Division of Naturalization), accompanied by 


73 



\ 

\ 

a certified copy on Form 2215. In cases of 
certificates, the application will be accompanied 
by a personal description of the applicant. In 
both instances, a description of the land should 
be included, giving the section, township, and 
range, together with the date and place of 
making the entry. The originals will then be 
procured from the General Land Office and re¬ 
turned to the clerk of the court. 

20. Aliens making declaration of intention, 
or filing petitions for naturalization, must sign 
their names in full and without abbreviation 
in the appropriate places on the various blank 
forms, and the entries of their names by the 
clerk must correspond in every particular. 
Where a name contains an initial which is used 
only to distinguish one individual from another 
with the same surname that fact should be 
noted on the paper. 

21. Clerks of courts shall not receive declar¬ 
ations of intention (Form 2202) or file petitions 
for naturalization (Form 2204) from other 
aliens than white persons and persons of Afri¬ 
can nativity or of African descent, nor from 
persons not residing in the judicial district 
within which the court is held. 

24. An alien of the age of 21 years and up¬ 
ward may be admitted to become a citizen 
without making declaration of his intention if 
he has been honorably discharged from the 
armies of the United States, or after a service 
of five consecutive years in the United States 
Navy, or after one enlistment of four years in 
the United States Marine Corps. Clerks of 


74 


courts instead of giving the information re¬ 
garding declarations of intention should ap¬ 
propriately insert in lieu thereof on petition 
(Forms 2204 and 2205) : ‘ ‘Petitioner is an honor¬ 
ably discharged (soldier, member of the Navy, or 
member of the Marine Corps) and makes appli¬ 
cation for citizenship under (Section 2166, U. S. 
R. S., or act of July 26, 1894). He enlisted in 
the (name of organization) on the (day, month, 
and year).’’ In the last paragraph preceding 
the signature of the petitioner, that portion of 
the sentence relating to the declaration of in¬ 
tention and certificate of arrival should be 
struck through when the alien arrived on or 
prior to June 29, 1906. When the arrival was 
after that date, only the words '‘my declaration 
of intention to become a citizen of the United 
States and” should be struck out. The state¬ 
ment following the signature of the petitioner 
to the body of the petition should be struck out 
entirely in cases of aliens arriving on or before 
June 29, 1906; but for those arriving after that 
date only the words "Declaration of Intention” 
should be struck out, and in both cases the entry 
in lieu thereof should be made "Honorable dis¬ 
charge certificate of petitioner was exhibited to 
me this.day of.” An ap¬ 

propriate note should also be entered upon the 
stub of the certificate issued to said applicant. 

Certain aliens are permitted to petition for nat¬ 
uralization under the terms of the act of June 
25, 1910, without proof of previous declaration 
of intention. Clerks of courts should state in 
lieu of the information regarding the declaration 


75 




of intention '‘Filed under provisions of Section 
3 of the act of Congress approved June 25, 
1910, ’ ’ and the statement following the first sig¬ 
nature of the petitioner should be changed so 
as to read "Declaration of intention omitted 
under the terms of the act of June 25, 1910.” 

DECISIONS AND RULINGS ON THE 
NATURALIZATION LAW. 

The following decisions and rulings, con¬ 
struing the naturalization law, have been se¬ 
lected as shoAving the attitude of the Federal 
courts and the Naturalization Department in 
relation to the law: 


1 . 

It has been held that the sixth subdivision 
of Section 4 of the Act applies to the widows 
and minor children of aliens who have declared 
their intention of becoming citizens of the 
United States, irrespective of whether or not 
they have filed petition for naturalization, and 
that to interpret it to mean that such a deceased 
alien must have filed his petition would limit 
the provision so that it would practically be a 
dead letter, because of the fact that but for a 
period of three months could it be made use of 
in any case, the law specifying that that period 
shall intervene between the filing of the petition 
and the granting of the certificate. 

Continuing, the opinion says: 

"The above view Avould appear to be 
strengthened by the words ‘by complying with 


76 


the other provisions of this Act’ contained in 
the same paragraph, which the Bureau inter¬ 
prets as meaning that the beneficiary there¬ 
under shall make petition for naturalization, 
for that purpose producing the necessary wit- 
! nesses, the same as would have been required in 
I the case of the husband were he still living. It 
! should be stated in such petition that the same 
is made under Section 4 of the Act of June 29, 
1906, the usual form of petition with the neces¬ 
sary alterations being used.” 

In In re Bohertson, 179 Fed. 131 (1910), it 
was held that a stepson was entitled to naturali¬ 
zation upon the strength of his stepfather’s dec¬ 
laration of intention. In this case the applica¬ 
tion was opposed by the Government on the 
ground that the declaration in question was not 
the declaration of the applicant’s own father. 

See also U. 8. v. Poslusny, 179 Fed. 836, as 
to minor child, of alien dying before taking out 
his final papers, taking out his final papers on 
the strength of his father’s declaration. 

2 . 

It is held that Section 2172 of the Revised 
Statutes, under which the naturalization of a 
parent confers citizenship upon his resident 
minor children is in full force and etfect. Also 
that the “status of a married woman is the 
same as that of her husband, and if he is a 
naturalized citizen of the United States she also, 
by virtue of such naturalization, is a citizen 
thereof. ’ ’ 


77 



3 . 

It is held that ‘‘the status of citizens of 
Hawaii is the same as that of citizens of the 
mainland of the United States, and in respect 
to naturalization there is no distinction between 
that and any other organized Territory or State 
of the Union.” 

With regard to Porto Rico and the Philip¬ 
pines, however, the case is entirely different. 
In neither of these island possessions of the 
United States have the courts jurisdiction to 
naturalize aliens, and in order to become a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, a resident of one of 
those islands must become a resident of some 
State or organized Territory of the United 
States, and must make his declaration of inten¬ 
tion to become a citizen of the United States 
therein at least two years prior to his admission, 
as provided in Section 30 of the Naturalization 
Act; and, further, to comply with the provisions 
of the third paragraph to subdivision second of 
the fourth section of the Act, he must reside one 
year continuously within the State or Territory 
where he makes his petition before making such 
petition. 

In the case of In re Alverto, 198 Fed. 688, 
(Sept., 1912), it is held that Section 30 of the 
Act is limited by Section 2169 R. S., and that 
Congress did not intend to extend the privilege 
of citizenship to those who had become citizens 
of the Philippine Islands under the Act of 1902, 
unless the}^ were free white persons or of Afri¬ 
can nativity or descent; and in that case the 
application of the petitioner, who was one- 


78 


fourth Spanish and three-fourths Philippino oi 
Malay, for citizenship was denied. 

4. 

The knowledge of the residence of the 
petitioner in this country possessed by the wit¬ 
nesses to the petition for naturalization must 
be personal knowledge, and must not depend 
merely upon correspondence between the par¬ 
ties by letter. The witnesses must have fre¬ 
quently seen the petitioner and know of their 
own personal knowledge that he has not been 
out of this country for any considerable period 
of time during the time which he claims to have 
resided in this country. 


5. 

Where a petition is filed under the provisions 
of Section 10, it is essential that the Department 
and the United States attorney for the district 
in which the witnesses whose depositions are to 
be taken reside, should be notified at once that 
the necessary residence in the United States will 
be proven under this section. The omission to 
do so is sufficient grounds for the denial of the 
petition. 

Where the witnesses reside in the same State 
in which the petitioner makes application, it is 
essential that they make affidavit in person in 
the court in which the petition is subrnitted. 
Under no circumstances should deposition in 
such case be taken. 


79 


6 . 

By an order of the Department dated Decem¬ 
ber 28, 1907, following a decision of the Comp¬ 
troller of the Treasury, “ all clerks of courts are 
required to collect $4.00 at the time of filing 
each petition,” and, it is further ordered that 

“In no instance should the clerk of the court 
undertake the execution of a naturalization 
paper, either declaration or petition, until all 
of the necessary information has been ascer¬ 
tained and the fee has been obtained from the 
alien. ’ ’ 

7. 

It has been ruled that ‘ ‘ an alien declaring his 
intention at the age of eighteen years under the 
provisions of the present Act can not petition 
for naturalization thereon until he has attained 
the age of twenty-one years, inasmuch as until 
such time he is not sui juris” (July 15, 1909). 

8 . 

It is held that it is essential in all cases 
where aliens have arrived since June 29, 1906, 
that, in making their declaration of intention, 
they give the name of the vessel they arrived 
in, and it is suggested that where the declarant 
does not know or has forgotten the name of 
the vessel, the information may be secured by 
him by writing to the Commissioner of Immi¬ 
gration at the port at which he arrived, giving 
the date and place of his emigration, the name 
of the port at which he arrived, and the date 
of his arrival in the United States. 


80 


9. 

It was formerly held that the service of a sea¬ 
man, under Section 2174 of the United States 
Revised Statutes, must be deep sea service, and 
not service in the coastwise trade; but recent 
decisions hold that the section applies as well 
to service on vessels engaged in the coastwise 
and lake going trade. (See In re Lind, 192 Fed. 
209, and hi re Sutherland, 197 Fed. 841.) 

10 . 

ALIENS—NATURALIZATION—TIME FOR FILING 
PETITION. 

The provisions of the naturalization act of 
June 29, 1906, c. 3592 Sec. 4, 34 Stat. 596, (U. S. 
Comp. St. Supp. 1907, p. 421), requiring a peti¬ 
tion for naturalization to be filed not less than 
two nor more than seven years after the decla¬ 
ration of intention is in the nature of a statute 
of limitation, and since it contains no language 
indicating a contrary intention, must be so con¬ 
strued as not to cut off the privilege of aliens 
who had made declaration of intention prior to 
its enactment to become citizens, but in such 
cases to give them seven years thereafter within 
which to file their petition. 

In re Wehrli, 157 Fed. 938. (Syllabus.) 

11 . 

Minor declarations, by which term is under¬ 
stood, declarations of intention made prior to 
the passage of the present law by persons un¬ 
der the age of 21 years at the time such declar¬ 
ations were made, are generally conceded to 


81 


be valid, under the authority of In re Syman- 
owsshi, 168 Fed. 978, and In re Shapiro, 186 
Fed. 606. 


12 . 

The case.of United States v. Martorana, 171 
Fed. 397, holds that unless there are two 
qualified witnesses to a petition for naturaliza¬ 
tion, the petition is void, not voidable, the peti¬ 
tion is a nullity and as such cannot be amended. 

13. 

hi re Martinovsky, 171 Fed. 601, construes 
Section 4, paragraph 2, and holds that an appli¬ 
cant for naturalization who has declared his in¬ 
tention after June 29, 1906, must sign the peti¬ 
tion in his own handwriting. 

14. 

In re Lewkowicz, 169 Fed. 927, holds that a 
declaration of intention which misstates the 
xJace of the alien’s nativity is not amendable. 

15. 

In re McNahh, 175 Fed. 511, holds that the 
word “now” in Section 2166, R. S., is limited to 
the laws existing at the enactment of the Stat¬ 
ute, and does not include subsequent enact¬ 
ments, and that a soldier applying for natural¬ 
ization under that section at the present time 
is not required to show by two witnesses his good 
moral character and residence, but may prove 
same by depositions taken without the State. 


82 


16. 

The case of United States v. Peterson, 182 
Fed. 289, construes the Act of July 26, 1894, 
chap. 165, and holds that the persons named 
therein in making their petitions for naturaliz¬ 
ation must comply with the provisions of the 
present law in regard to making proof of resi¬ 
dence and good moral character. 

17. 

The case of United States v. Ojala, 182 Fed. 
52, holds that if the applicant is able to pro¬ 
duce the witnesses for the final hearing whose 
names he gave 90 days before to the Clerk, it 
is his duty to do so. 

18. 

In re Godlover, 181 Fed. 731, holds that it is 
permissible to use more than two witnesses in 
making proof of residence and good moral 
character, and that so long as there are at 
least two credible witnesses testifying as to 
each fraction of the period, so as to cover the 
whole, the statutory requirement is satisfied. 

19. 

In the case of In re Hopp, 179 Fed. 561, a 
good moral character is defined as one that 
measures up as good among the people of the 
community in which the party lives; that is, 
up to the standard of the average citizen. 

20 . 

In re Schneider, 164 Fed. 335, it is said that 
it can not be said that the witnesses must see 


the applicant every day and every minute of 
every day for five years. Their knowledge 
must be appropriate to the applicant’s employ¬ 
ment. 

' 21 . 

United States vs.' Cantini, 199 Fed. 857, was 
a proceeding on the part of the United States 
for the cancellation of a certificate of naturali¬ 
zation issued to the defendant. The contention 
of the United States was that the certificate was 
illegally procured, because the court was with¬ 
out jurisdiction, because the defendant within 
a period of five years immediately preceding the 
date of his certificate was for a time without 
the United States. The Court dismissed the bill, 
saying that ‘^the fact, of residence and the con¬ 
tinuity of that residence must be determijied by 
the Court, and in determining the fact of resi¬ 
dence there must be a consideration of the facts 
which express the intention of the applicant. If 
the facts do not clearly show an intention on 
the part of the applicant to abandon a residence 
which he has acquired in this country, he must 
be deemed to be continuing to reside here.” 


84 


CHAPTER V. 

Reasons Why You Should Wish to Become 
an American Citizen. 

This country is a Republic. Its sovereignty 
resides in the people, and not in any monarch; 
the people are therefore citizens, not subjects. 

There are no titles of nobility, and no aris¬ 
tocracy in this country. It is one of the fore¬ 
most principles of our system of government 
that all men are created equal. When you have 
become an American Citizen you are equal in 
the eyes of the law to any other person in this 
country. 

There is no established Church in this coun¬ 
try. The church and state are separate. Here 
you are free to worship God according to your 
own conscience. 

Freedom of religious belief, freedom of speech 
and of the press, the right of the people to 
peaceably assemble and to petition the govern¬ 
ment for a redress of grievances, the right to 
keep and bear arms, the right to a speedy trial 
before a jury, and the right of the people to 
be secure in their persons, houses, papers and 
effects, against unreasonable searches and seiz¬ 
ures, are rights guaranteed by the Constitution. 

There is no conscription, or enforced military 
service, in this country in time of peace. There 
has always been a fear in this country of a large 
standing army, and it has been the policy of the 
government to maintain only a small military 
force for the purpose chiefly of doing police 


85 


duty among the Indians, guarding the frontiers 
and coasts and protecting the forest reserves. 
The main reliance of the country is upon its 
militia, which is made up of the able-bodied 
male citizens of the respective States and Terri¬ 
tories and the District of Columbia, and the 
able-bodied males of foreign birth who have de¬ 
clared their intention to become citizens, of the 
age of eighteen years and under the age of 
forty-five years, and is also known as the 
National Guard. You may possibly, as a citizen, 
be called upon to do military duty, but this is 
not at all probable, and no person is required 
to enlist in the army for any length of time, 
under ordinary conditions, unless he wishes to 
do so. 

The standing of this nation among the nations 
of the earth is such as to reduce to the remotest 
possibility any chance of a conflict with any 
other power. This is owing partly to our 
isolated position geographically as regards the 
great nations of Europe and Asia, and partly 
to the respect engendered by great wealth, im¬ 
mense ])opulation and untold fighting resources, 
as well as the peaceable disposition of our peo¬ 
ple. The consequence to the inhabitant of this 
country is undisturbed opportunity to pursue a 
peaceful vocation and to enjoy the blessings of 
peace, to educate himself and his children, and 
to lay by a competence, if he is industrious, for 
his old age. 

The taxes exacted by our State governments 
are very light and reasonable compared with 
other governments which are constantly en- 


86 


gaged in Avars, requiring the maintenance of 
large standing armies, and AA^hich support royal 
families and idle aristocracies; and the revenues 
collected by the Federal or United States Gov¬ 
ernment for governmental purposes are col¬ 
lected in such a way as to be almost unperceived 
by those who pay them. 

A person accused of crime in this country is 
entitled to a speedy and public trial, and can 
demand that it be before a jury. He is also 
entitled to knoAv the charge against him, to 
hear and examine the witnesses sAvorn, and the 
government must provide him with counsel, if 
he is unable to do so himself. He cannot be 
compelled to testify against himself, nor can 
his refusal to do so be considered an indication 
of his guilt; and he can only be tried once for 
the same offense, unless the jury fails to agree 
or unless he secures a new trial. For the pur¬ 
pose of determining Avhether one is illegally 
imprisoned, the Avrit of habeas corpus is always 
available, except in very exceptional cases. 

Education in this country is free, and it not 
only is free but is often made compulsory, by 
State laAvs, for children between certain ages. 
The very best facilities obtainable are fur¬ 
nished, and there is no excuse for the failure of 
any person living in this country for any length 
of time to be without an education of some sort. 

There are no passports required in this coun-" 
try, and a citizen or other inhabitant is free to 
go and come as he pleases without question so 
long as he behaves properly. 


87 


Passports can be obtained, however, by citi¬ 
zens going to other countries and intending to 
return, from the Secretary of State at Wash¬ 
ington, for the purpose of identification and for 
securing the protection and rights to which an 
American citizen is entitled while abroad. 

These passports are often found to be very 
useful by naturalized citizens visiting in their 
former home in preventing annoyance and sub¬ 
jection to military and other duties on the part 
of the authorities. 

In conclusion: You have come to this country 
to make your home, and to better your condi¬ 
tion, and you have bettered it. You are prob¬ 
ably prospering and raising your family and 
educating them under our free system, and they 
and you are enjoying the many advantages 
which this country affords. You may enjoy a 
great many of them without becoming a citizen, 
but will you not really think more of yourself 
and be a better person, if you shall pay the 
small return which the United States Govern¬ 
ment has a right to expect of you, which is that 
you forswear your allegiance and fidelity, to 
the country which you have abandoned, and 
familiarize yourself with our institutions and 
laws, and identify yourself with our govern¬ 
ment by becoming a citizen and promising to 
support our Constitution and to bear true faith 
and allegiance to it? Besides, you may find 
that you wish to vote, to hold office, or to secure 
a remunerative Civil Service position, or take 
up government land, or do certain other things, 
which only a citizen may do. 




CHAPTER VI. 

List of Questions. 

Note.—For answers to the following questions, 
consult pages 19 to 42 and Chapter V. 

1. What form of government has the United 

States ? 

2. What is a Republic? 

3. What other Republics can you mention? 

4. How long has the United States been a 

Republic ? 

5. Since what day of what year? 

6. What event of great importance to the 

people of the United States happened 
on that day? 

7. Have you ever read the Declaration of 

Independence ? 

8. Who wrote the Declaration of Independ¬ 

ence? 

9. What day is our greatest national holi¬ 

day? 

10. Describe the American flag. How has it 

been changed from time to time? 

11. Give the names of the original thirteen 

States? 

12. To what country did the United States 

belong before July 4, 1776? 

13. What great war occurred between the 

United States and Great Britain? 

14. How long did it last? 

15. Who was the Commander-in-Chief of the 

American forces? 


89 


16. Which side won? 

17. What other war was fought between these 

two countries? 

18. With what result? 

19. When was the Constitution of the United 

States adopted? 

20. How many Amendments have been made 

to the Constitution? 

21. What is the Constitution? 

22. Have you ever read it? 

23. Is there any higher law in this country? 

24. Into what three departments is our gov¬ 

ernment divided by the Constitution? 

25. What part of the Constitution tells about 

the law-making department of our 
government ? What article ? 

26. About the President and his duties? 

27. About the Courts? 

28. What is the chief executive officer of the 

United States called? 

29. What other officers assist the President 

in the execution of the laws? 

30. What officers compose the President’s 

Cabinet ? 

31. How many Presidents has the United 

States had? 

32. Who was the first President of the United 

States? 

33. When was he inaugurated? 

34. How long did he serve? 

35. Who was the second President of the 

United States? 

36. Who is the present President of the 

United States? 


90 


37. Who was President before him? 

38. Wliat other Presidents can you mention? 

39. Who was the President during the Civil 

War? 

40. What happened to him? 

41. What else do you know about Abraham 

Lincoln? 

42. What other Presidents have been assassi¬ 

nated ? 

43. How often and for how long is the Presi¬ 

dent elected? 

44. Who elects the President? 

45. Is he elected the same as other officers of 

the government? 

46. What is meant by the electoral college? 

47. What is the ordinary meaning of the 

word ‘‘elector”? 

48. What is meant by the term “presidential 

elector”? 

49. How is the Vice-President elected? 

50. What United States officers are elected 

by the people? By the State Legisla¬ 
tures? How do other United States 
officers obtain their positions, in what 
four ways? 

51. What officer is at the head of our Army 

and Navy? 

52. Who serves in case of the death of the 

President, or his inability to act? 

53. Can a person born in a foreign country 

become President or Vice-President of 
the United States? 


91 


54. Who appoints the Ambassadors and other 

public ministers and consuls of the 
United States? 

55. Can the President make a treaty? 

56. Can he declare war? 

57. How are treaties made, and by whom? 

58. Does the President help to make the 

laws? 

59. What is meant by the President’s veto? 

60. How are the laws of the United States 

made? 

61. By what body of men? 

62. Who makes the laws for the Custom 

House ? 

63. For the Post Office? 

64. For the Army and Navy? 

65. For the Pension Department? 

66. Who makes the laws for the public 

schools ? 

67. For taxing land and other property? 

68. The insurance and marriage laws? 

69. Do you understand the relationship of 

the States to the Federal Government? 

70. What is Congress? 

71. Where does Congress meet, and how 

often ? 

72. Of what two houses does it consist? 

73. How many Senators are there in Con¬ 

gress ? 

74. How many Senators has each State in 

Congress? 

75. How many Representatives are there in 

Congress at the present time? 


92 


76. How are the Representatives apportioned 

among the several States? 

77. What is the ratio of apportionment; one 

for how many inhabitants? 

78. By what other name are Representatives 

known ? 

79. How are United States Senators chosen? 

80. How are Representatives, or Congress¬ 

men, chosen? 

81. For how long are United States Senators 

elected? 

82. For how long are Congressmen elected? 

83. Can a foreign born person become a Sen¬ 

ator or Representative in Congress? 

84. In what House of Congress must bills for 

the raising of revenue originate? 

85. What are some of the ordinary powers of 

Congress? 

86. Can any title of nobility be granted by 

the United States? 

87. Who interprets the laws, or tells what 

they mean and whether they are con¬ 
stitutional or not? 

88. What is the highest court in this country ? 

89. How is it composed? 

90. How are the revenues of the United 

States raised ? 

91. Give the names of the four principal 

political parties in this country? 

92. How is the United States divided, terri¬ 

torially ? 

93. How many States are there? 

94. How many Territories are there? 


93 


95. What is the chief executive officer in a 

State or Territory called? 

96. What essential differences are there be- 

tAveen States and Territories? 

97. How do Territories become States? 

98. What is the law-making body in a State 

or Territory usually called? 

99. Who is the Governor of your State or 

Territorj^ ? 

100. How was he chosen? 

101. Where does the Legislature in your State 

or Territory meet? 

102. When or how often? 

103. Of how many houses does it consist? 

104. Give the names of the United States 

Senators from your State, if you live 
in a State? 

105. Give the name of the Congressman from 

your district, if you have a Congress¬ 
man ? 

106. Give the name of your Delegate, if you • 

live in a Territory? 

107. What is the supreme law in your State 

called? 

108. What courts have you in your State or 

Territory ? 

109. What is the highest court called? 

110. Give the names of the representatives 

from your county in your Legislature ? 

111. What are the processes called by which 

public officials may be removed from 
office ? 


94 


112. How large is the United States? 

113. How many people has it? 

114. In what three ways has the territory of 

the United States grown? 

115. When was the Civil War fought? 

116. How long did it last? 

117. Between what parts of the United States 

was it fought? 

118. What were its great results? 

119. Name some of the great statesmen of the 

United States who did not become 
President ? 

120. Name some of the great inventions of the 

United States? 

121. Who invented the steamboat, and when? 

122. The sewing machine ? 

123. The telegraph? 

124. The cotton gin? 

125. What are some of the essential differences 

between this country and your own? 

126. What are the chief qualifications in this 

country to enable a person to vote ? 

127. Who are citizens in this country? 

128. Are all citizens entitled to vote? 

129. What citizens do not vote? 

130. Are the laws uniform throughout the 

United States upon the question of 
who may vote ? Why are they not 
uniform ? 

131. Why do you wish to become an American 

citizen? 


95 


132. Do you understand that if you become an 

American citizen you may possibly be 
called upon to fight against the coun¬ 
try in which you were born? 

133. If called upon to do so, would you fight 

for the United States against the coun¬ 
try in which you were born? 

134. Do you know what anarchy is? 

135. What an anarchist is? 

136. Do you know what polygamy is ? 

137. Do you believe in either? 

138. Are you in favor of a man having more 

than one wife at the same time? 

139. What do you understand by the term 

organized government? 

140. Is the United States an organized govern¬ 

ment ? 

[Copyright 1913. All rights reserved.] 


96 


THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


In Congress, July 4, 1776. 

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United 
States of America. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political 
bands which have connected them with another, and 
to assume, among the powers of the earth the sep¬ 
arate and equal station to which the laws of nature 
and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to 
the opinions of mankind requires that they shall de¬ 
clare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all 
men are created equal; that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness; that to secure these rights, governments 
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed; that whenever any 
form of government becomes destructive of these 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish 
it, and to institute a new government, laying its foun¬ 
dation on such principles, and organizing its powers 
in such form as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
will dictate that governments long established should 
not be changed for light and transient causes; and, 
accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind 
are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, 
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to 
which they are accustomed. But when a long train 
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under 
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, 
to throw off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the 
patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now 


97 



the necessity which constrains them to alter their 
former systems of government. The history of the 
present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object 
the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a 
candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most whole¬ 
some and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of 
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended 
in their operations, till his assent should be obtained; 
and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to 
attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommo¬ 
dation of large districts of people, unless those people 
would relinquish the right of representation in the 
legislature—a right inestimable to them, and formid¬ 
able to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places 
unusual, uncomfortable and distant from the reposi¬ 
tory of their public records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly 
for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the 
rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolu¬ 
tions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the 
legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have 
returned to the people at large for their exercise, the 
state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the 
dangers of invasions from without, and convulsions 
within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of 
these States, for that purpose obstructing the laws for 
the naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass 
others to encourage their migration hither, and rais¬ 
ing the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by 
refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary 
powers. 


98 


He has made judges dependent on his will alone for 
the tenure of their offices and the amount and pay¬ 
ment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and 
eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent 
of, and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a 
jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and un¬ 
acknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their 
acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish¬ 
ment for any murders which they should commit on 
the inhabitants of these states; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the 
world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of 
trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for 
pretended offenses; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbi¬ 
trary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as 
to render it at once an example and fit instrument 
for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
colonies; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms 
of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in 
all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, 
burned our towns and destroyed the lives of our 
people. 


99 


He is at this time transporting large armies of 
foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, 
desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circum¬ 
stances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled.in 
the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken cap¬ 
tive on the high seas, to bear arms against their 
country, to become the executioners of their friends 
and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, 
and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our 
frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known 
rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of 
all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have peti¬ 
tioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our 
repeated petitions have been answered only by re¬ 
peated injury. A prince whose character is thus 
marked by every act which may define a tyrant is 
unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our 
British brethren. We have warned them from time 
to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an 
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have re¬ 
minded them of the circumstances of our emigration 
and settlement here. We have appealed to their 
native justice and magnanimity, and we have con¬ 
jured them by the ties of our common kindred to 
disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably 
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, 
too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of 
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the 
necessity which denounces our separation, and hold 
them, as we hold the rest of mankind—enemies in 
war; in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United 
States of America, in general congress assembled, 
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the 
authority of the good people of these colonies, sol¬ 
emnly publish and declare. That these United Col- 


100 


onies are, and of right ought to be, Free and In¬ 
dependent States; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be totally dissolved; and that 
as Free and Independent States, they have full power 
to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab¬ 
lish commerce, and do all other acts and things which 
Independent States may of right do. And for the 
support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually 
pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, 
engrossed and signed by the following members: 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

New Hampshire. —Josiah Bartlett, William Whip¬ 
ple, Matthew Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay.— Samuel Adams, John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island, etc. —Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut. —Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. —William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis 
Lewis, Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. —Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. —Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Ben¬ 
jamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James 
Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. 

Delaware. —Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas 
McKean. 

Maryland. —Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas 
Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Virginia. —George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, 
Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina.—W illiam Hooper, Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina.— Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hay¬ 
ward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. —Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George 
Walton. 


101 


f 


\ 


t 




I i * 




t * 




I 

0 , 


^ * 




> 

r 

I, 







t 





1 


4 


» 


V 






» * 



I 


t 

« . » 





« 



F ' . ^ 


f 











I 


• » 


t 

» 


c 


J • » 


« 




/ , • 


f k* 1 


• F 


I r 


Y 


i 


r 






!• 


4 





j 


# 


^ « 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, the People of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain 
and establish this constitution for the United States 
of America. 

ARTICLE L—LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted 
shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, 
which shall consist of a senate and house of repre¬ 
sentatives. 

Sec. 2. The house of representatives shall be com¬ 
posed of members chosen every second year by the 
people of the several States, and the electors in each 
State shall have the qualifications requisite for elec¬ 
tors of the most numerous branch of the state legis¬ 
lature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not 
have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and 
been seven years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 
State in which he shall be chosen. 

[Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor¬ 
tioned among the several States which may be in¬ 
cluded within this union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
v^hole number of free persons, including those bound 
to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.] The 
actual enumeration shall be m^ade within three years 
after the first meeting of the congress of the United 
States, and within every subsequent term of ten 
years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
The number of representatives shall not exceed one 
for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have 
at least one representative; and until such enumera¬ 
tion shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall 


103 


be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one; Con¬ 
necticut, five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; 
Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; 
Virginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Carolina, 
five; and Georgia, three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from 
any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

The house of representatives shall choose their 
speaker and other officers and shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 

Sec. 3. The senate of the Lnited States shall be 
composed of two senators from each State, chosen by 
the legislature thereof, for six years; and each 
senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in con¬ 
sequence of the 'first election, they shall be divided, 
as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats 
of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at 
the expiration of the second year; of the second class, 
at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third 
class, at the expiration of the sixth year: so that one- 
third may be chosen every second year; and if vacan¬ 
cies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the executive 
thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill 
such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for 
which he shall be chosen. 

The vice-president of the United States shall be 
president of the senate, but shall have no vote unless 
they be equally divided. 

The senate shall choose their other officers, and 
also a president yro tempore, in the absence of the 
vice-president, or when he shall exercise the office of 
president of the United States. 


104 


The senate shall have the sole power to try all im¬ 
peachments. When sitting for that purpose, they 
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the president 
of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall 
preside; and no person shall be convicted without the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualifica¬ 
tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or 
profit under the United States; but the party con¬ 
victed shall nevertheless be liable and subject to 
indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, accord¬ 
ing to law. 

Sec. 4. The times, places, and manner of holding 
elections for senators and representatives, shall be 
prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; 
but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make 
or alter such regulations, except as to the places of 
choosing senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday 
in December, unless they shall by law appoint a 
different day. 

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elec¬ 
tions, return-s and qualifications of its own members; 
and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to 
do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner and 
under such penalties as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceed¬ 
ings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, 
with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting 
such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either 
house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one- 
fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, 
shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for 

105 


more than three days, nor to any other place than 
that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. 6. The senators and representatives shall re¬ 
ceive a compensation for their services, to be ascer¬ 
tained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the 
United States. They shall, in all cases except trea¬ 
son, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and returning 
from the same; and for any speech or debate in either 
house, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil 
office under the authority of the United States which 
shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof 
shall have been increased, during such time; and no 
person holding any office under the United States 
shall be a member of either house during his con¬ 
tinuance in office. 

Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate 
in the house of representatives; but the senate may 
propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the house of 
representatives and the senate, shall, before it be¬ 
comes a law, be presented to the president of the 
United States. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if 
not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that 
house in which it shall have originated, who shall 
enter the objections at large on their journal, and 
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsidera¬ 
tion, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the’ 
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to 
the other house, by which it shall likewise be recon¬ 
sidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, 
it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the 
votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
nays, and the names of the persons voting for and 
against the bill shall be entered on the journal of 
each house respectively. If any bill shall not be re¬ 
turned by the president within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had 


106 


signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, 
prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the con¬ 
currence of the senate and house of representatives 
may be necessary, except on a question of adjourn¬ 
ment, shall be presented to the president of the 
United States; and before the same shall take effect, 
shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by 
him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the senate 
and house of representatives, according to the rules 
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power— 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex¬ 
cises; to pay the debts and provide for the common 
defense and general welfare of the United States; 
but all duties, imposts, and excises, shall be uniform 
throughout the United States: 

To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States: 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes: 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies through¬ 
out the United States: 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measures: 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting 
the securities and current coin of the United States: 

To establish post offices and post roads: 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, 
by securing for limited times, to authors and inven¬ 
tors, the exclusive right to their respective writings 
and discoveries: 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme 

court: , „ , 

To define and punish piracies and felonies com¬ 
mitted on the high seas, and offenses against the law 
of nations: 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and repri¬ 
sal, and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water: 


107 


To raise and support armies, but no appropriation 
of money to that use shall be for a longer term than 
two years. 

To provide and maintain a navy: 

To make rules for the government and regulation 
of the land and naval forces: 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and 
repel invasions: 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining 
the militia, and for governing such part of them as 
may be employed in the service of the United States, 
reserving to the States, respectively, the appointment 
of the officers, and the authority of training the 
militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress: 

To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases what¬ 
soever, over such district, not exceeding ten miles 
square, as may, by cession of particular States, and 
the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of gov¬ 
ernment of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall 
be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dock-yards, and other needful buildings; and. 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powd¬ 
ers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution 
in the government of the United States, or in any 
department or officer thereof. 

Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such per¬ 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Con¬ 
gress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or 
invasion the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be 
passed. 


108 


No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, un¬ 
less in proportion to the census or enumeration here¬ 
inbefore directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported 
from any State. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over 
those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from 
one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by law; and a 
regular statement and account of the receipts and ex¬ 
penditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States, and no person holding any office of profit or 
trust under them, shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or 
foreign State. 

Sec. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alii 
ance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and 
reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any¬ 
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex 'post facto law, 
or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant 
any title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, ex¬ 
cept what may be absolutely necessary for executing 
its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties 
and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, 
shall be for the use of the treasury of the United 
States, and all such laws shall be subject to the 
revision and control of the Congress. 

No State shall without the consent of Congress, 
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war 
in time of peace, enter into a,ny agreement or com¬ 
pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such 
imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 


109 


ARTICLE II.—EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


Sec. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a 
president of the United States of America. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four years, and to¬ 
gether with the vice-president, chosen for the same 
term, be elected as follows: 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the 
legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, 
equal to the whole number of senators and represent¬ 
atives to which the State may be entitled in the 
Congress; but no senator or representative, or person 
holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

[The electors shall meet in their respective States, 
and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at 
least shall not be an inhabitant of the State with 
themselves. And they shall make a list of all the 
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for 
each; which list they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the 
United States, directed to the president of the senate. 
The president of the senate shall, in the presence of 
the senate and house of representatives, open all the 
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The 
person having the greatest number of votes shall be 
the president, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if there be 
more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the house of representa¬ 
tives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of 
them for president; and if no person have a majority, 
then, from the five highest on the list, the said house 
shall, in like manner, choose the president. But, in 
choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by 
States, the representation from each State having one 
vote. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two-thirds of the States, 
and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
a choice. In every case, after the choice of the presi¬ 
dent, the person having the greatest number of votes 
of the electors shall be the vice-president. But if 


110 


there should remain two or more who have equal 
votes, the senate shall choose from them, by ballot, 
the vice-president.] 

[This paragraph is superseded by Article XII of the 
Amendments to the Constitution.] 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
the electors, and the day on which they shall give 
their votes, which day shall be the same throughout 
the United States. 

No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen 
of the United States at the time of the adoption of 
this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of 
president: neither shall any person be eligible to that 
office who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the president from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge 
the powers and duties of the said office, the same 
shall devolve on the vice-president, and the Congress 
may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, 
resignation, or inability, both of the president and 
vice-president, declaring what officer shall then act 
as president, and such officer shall act accordingly, 
until the disability be removed, or a president shall 
be elected. 

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services a compensation, which shall neither be in¬ 
creased nor diminished during the period for which 
he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the 
United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he 
shall take the following oath or affirmation: 

‘T do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith¬ 
fully execute the office of President of the United 
States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
States.” 

Sec. 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief 
of the army and navy of the United States, and of 
the militia of the several States when called into the 
actual service of the United States. He may require 


111 


the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each 
of the executive departments, upon any subject re¬ 
lating to the duties of their respective offices; and 
he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons 
for offenses against the United States, except in cases 
of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two- 
thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall 
nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of 
the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public 
ministers, and consuls, judges of the supreme court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose 
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, 
and which shall be established by law. But the Con¬ 
gress may, by law, vest the appointment of such in¬ 
ferior officers as they think proper, in the president 
alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of depart¬ 
ments. 

The president shall have power to fill up all 
vacancies that may happen during the recess of the 
senate, by granting commissions which shall expire 
at the end of their next session. 

Sec. 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the 
Congress information of the state of the union, and 
recommend to their consideration such measures as 
he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on 
extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or 
either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may 
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; 
he shall receive ambassadors and other public min¬ 
isters; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed; and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States. 

Sec. 4. The president, vice-president, and all civil 
officers of the United States, shall be removed from 
office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III.—JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Sec. 1. The judicial power of the United States 
shall'be vested in one supreme court, and in such 


112 


inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to 
time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the 
supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices 
during good behavior; and shall, at stated times, re¬ 
ceive for their services a compensation which shall 
not be diminished during their continuance in office. 

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases 
in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
laws of the United States, and treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under their authority; to all 
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime 
jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United 
States shall be a party; to controversies between two 
or more States; between a State and citizens of 
another State; between citizens of different States; 
between citizens of the same State claiming lands 
under grants of different States; and between a State, 
or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or 
subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State 
shall be a party, the supreme court shall have original 
jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, 
the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, 
both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and 
under such regulations, as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in 
the State where the said crimes shall have been com¬ 
mitted; but when not committed within any State, 
the trial shall be at such place or places as the Con¬ 
gress may, by law, have directed. 

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall 
consist only in levying war against them, or in ad¬ 
hering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason unless on 
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, 
or on confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the pun¬ 
ishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall 
work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during 
the life of the person attainted. 


113 


ARTICLE IV.—GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Sec. 1. Pull faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceed¬ 
ings of every other State. And the Congress may, by 
general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and 
the effect thereof. 

Sec. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the 
several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, 
or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be 
found in another State, shall on demand of the execu¬ 
tive authority of the State from which he fled, be 
delivered up, to be removed to the State having juris¬ 
diction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State 
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, 
in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be 
discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such ser¬ 
vice or labor may be due. 

Sec. 3. New States may be admitted by the Con¬ 
gress into this Union; but no new State shall be 
formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State; nor any State be formed by the junction of 
two or more States or parts of States, without the 
consent of the legislature of the States concerned, as 
well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the 
territory or other property belonging to the United 
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so 
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United 
States, or of any particular State. 

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a republican form of government, 
and shall protect each of them against invasion, and 
on application of the legislature, or of the executive 
(when the legislature can not be convened) against 
domestic violence. 


114 


ARTICLE V—POWER OF AMENDMENT. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to 
this Constitution, or, on the application of the legisla¬ 
tures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a 
convention for proposing amendments, which, in 
either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, 
as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the 
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or 
by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or 
the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress; provided, that no amendment which may 
be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and 
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; 
and that no State, without its consent, shall be de¬ 
prived of its equal suffrage in the senate. 

ARTICLE VL—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, 
before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as 
valid against the United States under this Constitu¬ 
tion as under the Confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land; and the judges in every State shall 
be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several State legislatures, 
and all executive and judicial officers, both of the 
United States and of the several States, shall be 
bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitu¬ 
tion, but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the 
United States. 


115 


ARTICLE VIL—RATIFICATION OF THE 
CONSTITUTION. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, 
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Con¬ 
stitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the 
States present, the seventeenth day of September, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof, 
we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, President, 

and Deputy from Virginia. 

New Hampshire. —John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. 
Massachusetts. —Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 
Connecticut. —William Samuel Johnson, Roger 
Sherman. 

Neav York. —Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey.. —William Livingston, David Brearly, 
William Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania.— Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. 

Delaware. —George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. —James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas 
Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia.— John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina. —William Blount, Richard Dodds 
Spaight, Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina. —John Rutledge, Charles Cotes- 
worth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 
Georgia. —William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest: 

William Jackson, Secretary. 


116 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 

Of the United States, Ratified According to the Provi- 
sions of the Fifth Article of the Fore¬ 
going Constitution. 

ARTICLE L 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establish¬ 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
press; or the right of the people peaceably to as¬ 
semble and to petition the government for a redress 
of grievances. 

ARTICLE 11. 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the 
security of a free State, the right of the people to 
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
any house without the consent of the owner, nor in 
time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their per¬ 
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreason¬ 
able searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 
no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the persons 
or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or 
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in 
the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in 
actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor 
shall any person be subject, for the same offense, to 
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall 


117 


be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness 
against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use without just 
compensation. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy 
the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial 
jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall 
have been committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of 
the nature and cause of the accusation; to be con¬ 
fronted with the witnesses against him; to have com¬ 
pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; 
and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in contro¬ 
versy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by 
jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury 
shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the 
United States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

ARTICLE VIIL 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain 
rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by 
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
people. 

ARTICLE XL 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com¬ 
menced or prosecuted against one of the United 


118 


States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or 
subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, 
and vote by ballot for president and vice-president, 
one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of 
the same State with themselves; they shall name in 
their ballots the person voted for as president, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as vice-president; 
and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
for as president, and of all persons voted for as vice- 
president, and of the number of votes for each, which 
lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the president of the senate; the president 
of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and 
house of representatives, open all the certificates, and 
the votes shall then be counted; the person having 
the greatest number of votes for president shall be 
the president, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person 
have such majority, then from the persons having the 
highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of 
those voted for as president, the house of representa¬ 
tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the presi¬ 
dent. But in choosing the president, the votes shall 
be taken by States, the representation from each 
State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two- 
thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the house of 
representatives shall not choose a president, when¬ 
ever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, 
before the fourth day of March next following, then 
the vice-president shall act as president, as in the 
case of the death or other constitutional disability of 
the president. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as 
vice-president shall be the vice-president, if such num¬ 
ber be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed; and if no person have a majority, then 


119 


from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate 
shall choose the vice-president; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
number of senators, and a majority of the whole 
number shall be necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 
office of president, shall be eligible to that of vice- 
president of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Sec. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdic¬ 
tion. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 
are citizens of the United States, and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunb 
ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any 
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person 
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 
laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective num¬ 
bers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for choice of electors for 
president and vice-president of the United States, 
representatives in Congress, the executive and judi¬ 
cial officers of the State, or the members of the legis¬ 
lature thereof, is denied to any of the male in¬ 
habitants of such State being twenty-one years of age, 
and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other 
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be 


120 


reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a senator, or represent¬ 
ative in Congress, or elector of president and vice- 
president, or hold any ofRce, civil or military, under 
the United States, or under any State, who, having 
previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or 
as an officer of the United States, or as a member of 
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial 
officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the 
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or 
rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort 
to the enemies thereof; but Congress may, by a vote 
of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the 
United States authorized by law, including debts in¬ 
curred for payment of pensions and bounties for ser¬ 
vices in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall 
not be questioned. But neither the United States nor 
any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or any claim for the loss or eman¬ 
cipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, 
by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this 
article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

Sec. 1. The right of citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United 
States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude. 

Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 


121 


• t 

. I 






PRESIDENTS OF THE LNITED STATES 


1. George Washington.1789-1797 

2. John Adams.1797-1801 

3. Thomas Jefferson.1801-1809 

4. James Madison.1809-1817 

5. James Monroe.1817-1825 

6. John Quincy Adams.1825-1829 

7. Andrew Jackson.1829-1837 

8. Martin Van Buren.1837-1841 

9. * * * § William Henry Harrison.1841-1841 

10. John Tyler.1841-1845 

11. James K. Polk.1845-1849 

12. fZachary Taylor.1849-1850 

13. Millard Fillmore.1850-1853 

14. Franklin Pierce.1853-1857 

15. James Buchanan.1857-1861 

16. JAbraham Lincoln.1861-1865 

17. Andrew Johnson.1865-1869 

18. Ulysses S. Grant.1869-1877 

19. Rutherford B. Hayes.1877-1881 

20. §James A. Garfield.1881-1881 

21. Chester A. Arthur.1881-1885 

22. Grover Cleveland.1885-1889 

23. Benjamin Harrison.1889-1893 

24. Grover Cleveland.1893-1897 

25. II William McKinley.1897-1901 

26. Theodore Roosevelt.1901-1909 

27. William H. Taft.1909-1913 

28. Woodrow Wilson .1913- 


* Died in oflSce, Apr. 4, 1841. 

t Died in office, July 9, 1850. 

j Died in office, Apr. 15, 1865. 

§ Died in office. Sept. 19, 1881. 

II Died in office. Sept. 14, 1901. 

123 


































\ 





STATES OF THE UNITED STATES 


EASTERN STATES 
Maine New Hampshire 

Vermont Massachusetts 

Rhode Island Connecticut 

New York Pennsylvania 

New Jersey Delaware 

Maryland West Virginia 

SOUTHERN STATES 
Virginia North Carolina 

South Carolina Georgia 

Florida Tennessee 

Alabama Mississippi 

Arkansas Louisiana Texas 

CENTRAL STATES 
Ohio Kentucky 

Indiana Illinois 

Michigan Wisconsin 
Minnesota Iowa 

Missouri North Dakota 

South Dakota Nebraska 

Kansas Oklahoma 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN STATES 


Montana Wyoming 

Colorado New Mexico 



Idaho Utah 

Arizona 


PACIFIC STATES 


Washington 

Oregon 

California 

Nevada 

Alaska 

TERRITORIES 

Hawaii 


125 




y 


INDEX. 


Page 

Affidavit of witnesses, form... 59 

Age of applicants for citizenship papers....lO, 43, 80 
Aliens, what classes may become citizens..lO, 74, 78 

Aliens, insane, naturalization of wife and chil¬ 
dren of . 70 

Allegiance, oath of .16, 46 

Renunciation of foreign.16, 44 

Amendments to Constitution .26, 115, 117 

Amendment of June 25, 1910.11, 44, 75 

Anarchists, meaning of term.17, 20, 50 

Applicant, qualifications of . 

.10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 43 

Army and Navy, head of .34, 111 

Articles of Confederation . 26 

Cabinet, officers of.35, 111 

Certificate of Naturalization . 16 

Certified Copies of . 73 

Forfeiture of . 53 

Lost, how replaced . 72 

How procured .15, 43 

Returned when . 73 

When may be applied for .10, 43 

Certificate of registry, how procured, filing of..l4, 47 

Change of name .23, 49, 72 

Children, minor, effect of parent’s naturaliza¬ 
tion . 64, 65, 77 

Citizens of the United States, who are.42, 120 

Citizenship, manner of acquiring.43, 51 

Requirements for .10, 43, 51 

When acquired . 

Colonies, original thirteen . 25 


1 





























Page 


Congress, how composed, powers of. 

.35, 37, 103, 108, 113 

Constitution of the United States, adoption of..26, 116- 

Amendments to .26, 115, 117 

Defined . 31 


Knowledge of required . 19 


Purposes of . 



.32, 

103 

Powers, how vested . 

..32, 103, 110, 

112 

Supremacy of . 

.31, 

39, 

40, 

115 

Text of. 


.103, 

121 

Courts of the United States. 



.38, 

112 

Declaration of Independence, adoption of.... 



24 

By whom written . 




24 

Date of . 




24 

Nature of . 




24 

Text of . 




97 

Declaration of intention . 





Age when may be made. 


.10, 

43, 

71 

Certified copies of . 




73 

Good for what period . 


.10, 

45, 

81 

How made . 



...9, 

43 

Lost, how replaced . 




72 

Made prior to 1906 . 



-71, 

81 

Minor . 




81 

Form of . 




56 

Refusal of . 




74 

Returned when . 




73 

Unnecessary when . 

.11, 

44, 

67, 

74 

What to contain . 



....9, 

43 

Delegates in Congress . 



..37, 

40 

Denial of petition for naturalization 




16 

Depositions, how taken, notice of.... 

12, 15, 

51, 

79, 

82 

Desert lands . 




66 

District of Columbia . 



..30, 

108 

Electors, who are . 



..32, 

41 

Presidential . 



..32, 

36 

Ordinary . 



..33, 

41 


11 





































Page 

Emancipation Proclamation, date of, by whom 

issued, effect of . 27 

English, requirements as to speaking.18, 50, 71 

Examination of applicant .19, 24 

Character of .19, 24 

Preparation for . 21 

Questions asked .21, 89 

Expatriation . 62 

Fees, Declaration of Intention .9, 52, 80 

Certificate of naturalization.13, 52, 80 

Of witnesses .14, 52 

Petition for naturalization .13, 52, 80 

Final paper .11, 19, 45, 81 

First paper .9, 43 

Flag, description of . 39 

Government of the United States, distribution of 

powers of.32, 103, 110, 112 

How formed . 31 

Kind of . 30 

Seat of, where located . 30 

Handwriting .....10, 16, 46, 71, 82 

Hawaii . 78 

Hearing of petition for naturalization.19, 24 

Preparation for .19, 24 

Homesteads .50, 65, 70 

House of Representatives, how composed. 36 

Impeachments, etc. 41 

Inventions . 29 

Islands, status of inhabitants of.60, 78 

Jurisdiction of Courts to naturalize . 43 

Laws of the United States, how enacted....35, 102, 105 

Moral character, good, defined. 83 

Name, change of .23, 49, 72 

Naturalization Courts . 43 

Naturalization forms .56, 60 

iii 


































^ ' Page 

Oath of allegiance .16, 47 

Organized government, defined . 20 

Papers, first .9, 43, 56 

Second .11, 19, 45, 57 

Final .11, 19, 45, 57 

Passports .61, 62 

Petition for naturalization, denial of....15, 16, 17, 19 

Effect of granting or denying . 16 

Form of . 57 

How and where made. 11 

Refusal of . 74 

Renewal of .16, 46 

Requirements as to residence.10, 12, 46, 51 

Time of hearing .14, 49, 51 

Requirements as to witnesses. 

.11, 14, 15, 46, 51, 79, 83 

What to contain .16, 46, 47 

Polygamy, definition of . 20 

Population of the United States, growth of. 29. 

Presidents of the United States, cabinet of.35, 111 

Election of .32, 119 

Duties of .34, 111 

List of . 122 

Powers of .34, 111 

Prominent . 26 

Qualifications of .34, 111 

Salary of . 35, 111 


Qualifications of applicant. 

.10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 43, 46 


Questions, reference to . 21 

List of . 89 

Removal from office . 41 

Renewal of petition for naturalization.16, 46 

Representatives, how apportioned .36, 120 

Number of . 36 

Method of election .-..36, 105 

Qualifications of ...36, 103 


iv 






































Page 

Republic, defined . 3 q 

Residence, as conferring jurisdiction. 9 , 43 

Length of required .10, 46 , 51 ’ 34 

Revenues, how raised, federal. 37 106 

State .’ .. ’ 3 g 

Revolutionary war . 25 

Rights of States . 28 

Seamen . 69 ^ 81 

Sections of Revised Statutes .61, 70 

Senate of the United States, how composed. 35 , 104 

Senators, method of election, qualifications of, 

number of . 35 , 104 

Slavery abolished . 28 

Soldiers .67, 75, 82 

State constitutions .31, 39, 40, 115 

States, how constituted . 39 

Growth in number . 29 

Government of . 39 , 40, 114 

Method of taxation . 38 

New, how admitted .40, 114 

Original thirteen . 25 

Powers of .39, 40, 118 

Restrictions ..39, 109, 121 

List of. 124 

Second, or final paper .11, 19, 45 


Statesmen of the United States, names of prom¬ 


inent . 27 

Substitution of witnesses .13, 49, 83 

Supreme Court of United States.32, 38, 112 

Territories of the United States, how formed, 

how governed, how represented.37, 39, 40, 114 

Number of.29, 124 

Ownership of land in . 67 

Status of . 39 

Territory of the United States .28, 114 

Time of length of residence.10, 46, 51 


V 



































Page 

Titles of nobility, none granted in United States 

.37, 109 

Renunciation of . 48 

Vessel, name of, requirements as to.10, 45, 80 

Vice-president of the United States, duties of 

.34, 37, 104, 111 

How elected .34, 119 

Qualifications of .34, 119 

Wars of the United States, Revolutionary. 25 

Of 1812 . 28 

Mexican . 28 

Civil . 28 

Spanish . 28 

Washington, George . 26 

Washington, city of . 30 

Widows and orphans, naturalization of appli¬ 
cants’ .48, 76 

Witnesses, affidavits of . 59 

Change of on hearing .13, 49, 83 

Examination of .11, 46 

Fees of .14, 52 

Knowledge of .•..46, 79, 83 

Number of .11, 46, 83 

Qualifications of .13, 46, 79, 83 

Woman, effect of husband’s naturalization..18, 63, 77 

Naturalization of .18, 48, 70, 76 

Citizenship of by marriage.18, 66, 77 


vi 



























«• ^ -• ri* /: •' 



■r 






■' - '^ > V “^l- 

"■' ■ ?i; 

• - • > /Sv 



^T ^ • '*. ' 




■l.> ..' . ■ '^ • 

« I ^ ^ ^ ^ 





‘\ 



* » 


•^1 . • ^ *v-i 

if'*? * ■• • - 

- . ‘ 






>*• ;* -'v '*"■ V' x'M] 

■ :!:■■■■ ... ‘ JII* .-, 


'.•.■I'.J 





'iL' 


.. t A-,, •; IT- 'iHaU 



^ 4 • • ' *,7 ^» X 

> 7!- 

• r^r' ^:..- r:..,_ 

■ 











LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS 

1 


II 


ill 

II I ill 



('* 


0 027 119 739 1 









